Anderson Road ( Chinese: 安達臣道) is a road on the eastern border of the

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

and New Kowloon in Hong Kong. It starts near the junction of Clear Water Bay Road and New Clear Water Bay Road, above Shun Lee Estate, then continues southeast to Tseng Lan Shue () and eastward through the hills above

Sau Mau Ping Sau Mau Ping () is an area part of Kwun Tong District, in eastern Kowloon, Hong Kong. Name Its Chinese name was formerly So Mau Ping (), but this was often mis-rendered So Mo Ping (), meaning a place to 'Ancestor worship, visit one's ancestor ...

, and finally ends at Po Lam Road () in Ma Yau Tong.

Anderson Road Quarry

To the east of the road is Tai Sheung Tok hill. From 1964, the hilltop was developed as a large

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

, Anderson Road Quarry (), highly visible from much of Kowloon and Hong Kong, which supplied construction aggregate to Hong Kong until July 2017, operated by the K.Wah Group, when it was one of only three quarries still operating in Hong Kong, along with those in Shek O and Lam Tei. The quarry site is on the ridge surrounding

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

, visible from much of urban Hong Kong, but was ultimately deemed to damage the beauty and the fungshui of

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...

. Planning for a major development of the 40-hectare site (called 'ARQ' or 'ARQS') for around 9400 private and subsidised housing flats serving a residential population of 25,000 is in progress. The development is expected to accept its first residents in 2023–24.

History

The road is one of earliest roads built by

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

after the British got the lease of New Territories from the Qing in 1899. It is unclear after whom the road is named. While some claimed William John Anderson, Controller of Stores in Government Supplies of

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

, others believe unlikely as Anderson Road was named by 1924, 14 years before the appointment of the person. Another likely origin is Charles Alexander Anderson, Commander British Troops in Southern China who proposed the construction of passage between Customs Pass (now near Fei Ngo Shan Road) and Devil's Peak to move the troops, which resembles much of the old Anderson Road. The original road was longer than at present. After reaching Lau Tong, present-day Ma Yau Tong, it ran south to western slope of Black Hill and Hai Wan (present-day Chiu Keng Wan Shan). It further went south to near the top of Devil's Peak and ended near Sam Ka Tsun (present-day Sam Ka Tsuen). This road section later partly overlapped with the Stage 3 of Wilson Trail, and part of the final section to Sam Ka Tsuen is now an access road to the Junk Bay Chinese Permanent Cemetery. The road was described in military materials as "a road suitable for manhandled guns". In 1950s, when the

sent

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s to the area of Rennie's Mill, some churches were built along part of the road, which was extended from the southern end of the present-day Anderson Road to the present-day Po Lam Road South). Until the late 1980s, this road was only used by residents of Rennie's Mill. In the late 1980s, when the first two

public housing estate Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

s in Po Lam, Tseung Kwan O New Town -

Po Lam Estate Po Lam Estate () is a mixed Tenants Purchase Scheme, TPS and public housing estate in Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Metro City (Hong Kong), Metro City and MTR Po Lam station. It is the first public housing estate in Tseung Kwan ...

and Tsui Lam Estate were built, it was the only link to Po Lam until the Tseung Kwan O Tunnel was opened in 1990. Nowadays, although Po Lam Road is no longer the main road to Tseung Kwan O, some bus routes from Tseung Kwan O still use Po Lam Road.

Facilities

Only a few stores, farmland, the quarry and warehouses are located beside the road. Haven of Hope Sunnyside School is sited at the Po Lam end of the road.

Public transport

Since the 1996 cancellation of KMB Bus Route 90 ( Tiu Keng Leng<->

Choi Hung Choi Hung Estate () is a public housing estate in Ngau Chi Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was built by the former Hong Kong Housing Authority () and is now managed by the current Hong Kong Housing Authority. It received a Silver Medal at the 1965 Ho ...

), no public transport routes use Anderson Road. However, buses via Po Lam Road and Clear Water Bay Road include the Anderson Road bus stop.

References

External links