Sham Shui Po

The name of Sham Shui Po was derived from a deep-water Wharf at the junction of Beihe street and TongZhou street. Sham Shui Po is located in the northwest of Kowloon Peninsula. It is bounded by Lion Rock Country Park in Sha Tin in the north, Kowloon Canton Railway in the East, Boundary Street in the South and waterfront in the west, including Stonecutters Island. It is one of the earliest development areas of the port and used to be an industrial, commercial and transportation hub. Today, most of the land in the area is used for residential construction. For example, public housing covers an area of nearly 81 hectares. There are still many factories and warehouses in Changsha Bay area. In addition, the PLA Barracks at Stonecutters Island are also within the area.

Sham Shui Po District

synonym

Sham Shui Po generally refers to the Sham Shui Po area

Located in the northwest of Kowloon Peninsula, Sham Shui Po covers an area of 1047 hectares and has a population of 353000. It is divided into 21 constituencies. The area is bounded by the Kowloon Canton Railway (East Rail Line) in the East, Boundary Street in the South and the waterfront in the west, including Stonecutters Island. It is one of the earliest development areas in Hong Kong and used to be an industrial, commercial and transportation hub.

Sham Shui Po is one of the earliest development areas in Hong Kong. It was also an industrial, commercial and transportation hub. Today, most of the land in the area is used for residential construction. For example, public housing covers an area of nearly 81 hectares. There are still many factories and warehouses in the Changsha Bay area. In addition, the PLA Barracks at Stonecutters Island are also within the area. As early as the 1950s and 1960s, it was densely populated. In 1986, the population reached 440000, but it dropped to 353000. The district is the poorest, with the lowest median monthly household income (14000 yuan). The proportion of elderly people in the district is the highest in Hong Kong (15.7%), and the proportion of new arrivals is also quite high (11.2%).

There are about half of public and half of private housing in the area. There are 13 public housing estates (including Shek Kip Mei estate, the earliest public housing estate in Hong Kong) and seven home ownership estates. Due to the lack of urban planning in the early years, the city was in chaos, and more buildings were built in the 1950s and 1960s, which was very dilapidated. Illegal illegal construction caused many problems in building management and fire prevention. The number of such buildings is the largest in Nanchang District (around Furong street, Fuhua street and Beihe Street).

The area is well-developed in transportation. The network of metro, airport railway and superhighway runs through the area, making it very convenient to travel between the area and other districts in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the new territories. There are two hospitals, one University (City University of Hong Kong), 80 schools, three community halls (Lai Ko, Pak Tin, Shek Kip Mei) and four community centers (Cheung Sha Wan, Tai Keng Tung, Nanchang, Lai Chi Kok).

Historical evolution

The origin of place names

The name of Sham Shui Po was derived from a deep-water Wharf at the junction of Beihe street and TongZhou street. "Po" is the same as "bu". In Cantonese, it means wharf.

History of construction

When the subway was built, quite a number of Neolithic cultural relics were unearthed in Changsha Bay and other places. As early as the Neolithic age, people lived near Changsha Bay. The tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Li Zheng Wu estate cites the vicissitudes of Hong Kong. It is found that when the tomb was built, it was located at the seaside. However, when it was excavated, the tomb of Li Zheng Wu on the side of the mountain was some distance away from the seaside.

Located to the north of Boundary Street, Sham Shui Po belongs to the New Kowloon area, so it was not ruled by the United Kingdom until 1898. At that time, there were four main settlements in the area, namely Jiuhua path, Cheung Sha Wan, Sham Shui Po and Kowloon Tong, with a population of about 3000. The residents mainly depended on farming, planting flowers, fishing and shipping goods. Sham Shui Po was a market in the area at that time, and a wharf was set up to transfer goods to Hong Kong Island. Sham Shui Po is named after the wharf.

Since 1920s, due to the development of Mong Kok, the northern areas of Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan have been developed accordingly. With the investment of overseas Chinese at that time, the area became the main industrial area of pre war Kowloon, with textile, clothing, hardware and enamel factories.

In the late 1940s, a large number of refugees came to Hong Kong. Many of them built wooden houses in Sham Shui Po. The fire in Shek Kip Mei in 1953 caused many victims to lose their homes and led to the construction of the first public housing in Hong Kong, Shek Kip Mei estate.

Since the 1960s, with the rapid development of Hong Kong's industry, the industrial development of Sham Shui Po District has become increasingly vigorous. Coupled with the construction of a large number of public housing in the District, the district has been the administrative region with the largest population until the 1990s.

historical event

The Pacific War broke out in December 1941, and the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong in more than ten days. At that time, Sham Shui Po military camp became a concentration camp for prisoners of war. Due to the lack of food and the poor environment, beriberi and dysentery were rampant in the camp. Many prisoners of war died because they were not properly treated.

geographical environment

terrain

Sham Shui Po is located in the northwest of Kowloon Peninsula. It is adjacent to Lion Rock Country Park in Shatin in the north, bounded by Kowloon Canton Railway (East Rail Line of MTR) in the East, Boundary Street in the South and waterfront in the west, including Stonecutters Island. It is one of the earliest development areas of the port and used to be an industrial, commercial and transportation hub. Today, most of the land in the area is used for residential construction. For example, public housing covers an area of nearly 81 hectares. There are still many factories and warehouses in Changsha Bay area. In addition, the PLA Barracks at Stonecutters Island are also within the area.

climate

Sham Shui Po has a marine subtropical monsoon climate. It is cool and dry in winter, warm and rainy in spring, hot and humid in summer, and cool and sunny in autumn. Hong Kong may be hit by tropical cyclones (typhoons) from June to October every year.

Economic overview

Located in the north of Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po District is only two MTR stations apart. It can be said that it is the earliest industrial and commercial center of Hong Kong. It is mainly concentrated in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok, covering an area of about 35 hectares. It is mainly engaged in the wholesale and retail of textiles, clothing, staple goods and non-staple food. With the relocation of factories to the north, the number of factories in this area has dropped from more than 6000 in the past (a total of 100000 workers) to less than 3000 factories and 30000 workers.

Sham Shui Po is the clothing wholesale headquarters. Many clothing wholesale stores in this area are of their own characteristics. Although most of the clothes in the wholesale stores are not on sale, some of them also do neighborhood business, so that you can take the opportunity to buy some cheap and beautiful clothes. And after seeing the wholesale store, I stop by the retail store. There is a very eye-catching West Kowloon Centre in Sham Shui Po. The 9-story shopping mall offers a variety of shopping options. In particular, the first indoor roller coaster in Hong Kong is located at the top. Sham Shui Po has two of the largest computer hardware markets in Hong Kong: Gordon computer center and Golden Computer mall, as well as Apliu street, a famous electronic street at home and abroad. Therefore, Sham Shui Po is the heart of Hong Kong's electronic market.

Population nationality

Demographic situation

As early as the 1950s and 1960s, Sham Shui Po District was densely populated, with a population of 440000 in 1986. The elderly population in this district is very large. In 1996, the number of elderly people over 60 years old accounted for one fifth of the total population in this district, which is significantly higher than the average of Hong Kong (i.e. more than 10%). The elderly dependency ratio is the highest in Hong Kong, which is a common feature of the early development community. Among the 55000 new arrivals from China each year, about 10% will settle down in this district, and the number of them will increase About 6000 people, ranking first in all districts.

According to the results of the 2004 census, the population of Sham Shui Po District is about 360000, accounting for 5.3% of the total population of Hong Kong.

local customs and practices

There are two versions about the name of Jiulong: one is that the Song Dynasty was chased and exiled here by Yuan soldiers, and Lu Xiufu and other ministers often supported the Song Emperor to climb the huge rock on the hill, overlooking the liyumen Haikou, hoping to serve the king's division. It is said that the emperor of song ascended the stone one day and saw the green mountains standing around him. He said to the officials, "eight green mountains, one dragon for each mountain, are eight dragons." Lu Xiufu was nearby and replied, "Your Majesty is the son of heaven and a dragon." Emperor song nodded. So there was the saying of "Kowloon", and later this place was called "Kowloon".

Another way of saying is that Kowloon is named after its natural environment. At the northern end of the peninsula, there are nine mountains. Although the mountains are small and not high, they are like dragons. The nine mountains are like nine dragons. They are called "Jiulong peaks" or "Jiulong peninsula". The names of the nine mountains are: Ciyun mountain, feie mountain, Shizi mountain, Dalao mountain, Dongshan mountain, Jixiong mountain, Yingchao mountain, Pipa mountain and Bijia mountain. Bijia mountain used to be called Yandun mountain. There were Yandun mounds on the mountain to convey news. When a sailboat sees the smoke rising on the mountain and knows the monsoon, it can set sail for a long voyage.

Community environment

In addition to some well-off residents living in Youyi village, Bijiashan and lizhijiao, most of the residents in Sham Shui Po District are poor people, and the elderly, weak women and children account for a large proportion of the population in the district.

Public housing estate

Ze'an estate, Xingfu estate, Fuchang estate, Rongchang estate, Lige estate, Li'an estate, Li Zhengwu estate, Nanchang estate, Nanshan estate, Baitian estate, Shixiawei estate, suwu estate, Dakeng East estate, Yuanzhou estate and Haili estate

PSPs

Xingjun garden, Yijing garden, Yige garden, Qingli garden, Baoxi garden, Baoli Garden

Private housing estate

Meifu new estate, Youyi village, Bijiashan garden, shengyueju

Chinese PinYin : Shen Shui Bu