Tai Po District


Tai Po District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It covers the areas of Tai Po New Town, Lam Tsuen Valley and other surrounding area, and its exclave in the northern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula. The Tai Po proper and North Sai Kung, was divided by the Tolo Channel and Tolo Harbour. The District is located in the Eastern New Territories. The de facto administrative centre of the district is Tai Po New Town
Like Yuen Long, the area of Tai Po used to be a traditional market town. Tai Po New Town, developed around the area of Tai Po and on reclaimed land on the estuaries of Lam Tsuen and Tai Po rivers. It had a population of 310,879 in 2001. The district has the third lowest population density in Hong Kong.

History

The district was named after Tai Po.

Geography

Tai Po is located in the north of Hong Kong, northeast of Sha Tin. Even though the Tai Po Industrial Estate is located in the district, it is still one of the most unpolluted districts in Hong Kong. Tai Po's population density is considerably lower than Kowloon's, having many old, small villages in the mountains.

Islands

In addition to the mainland part of the district, the following islands of Hong Kong are under the jurisdiction of Tai Po District:

Housing

Because Hong Kong is in a very densely populated region, Tai Po Town has copied the many urban areas of Hong Kong by building high-rise apartments. 320,000 people have residences in the town, making high-rise apartments necessary and mandatory. These high-rise apartments are located inside estates, such as Tai Yuen Estates and Fu Heng Estates. These high-rise apartments have floors ranging from the low apartments in Tai Po Old Town to the new estates in northern Tai Po ranging from 20 to 34 levels. The area is serviced by the Tai Po Hui Market, Built in 2004.
The Tai Po area also has many "village houses", resulting from a 1972 Hong Kong legislation which gave any male heir over the age of 18 who could prove he was descended from one of Hong Kong's original villages in 1898 the right to build a small house on a plot of land, either owned by the village itself or on leased government land. These houses are restricted by law to be no more than three stories and in height, and no more than in total floor space.
There are also a few private housing development in the Tai Po area with "detached" and "semi-detached" houses which include communal recreational areas such as swimming pools, tennis courts and children's playgrounds, and entertainment facilities such as private cinemas, health spas and karaoke rooms. These developments are excluded from the "village house" law, and therefore units are often much larger than.
Privately owned residential housing in Tai Po included Tai Po Centre, Plover Cove Garden, Uptown Plaza, The Beverly Hills and many other residential estates.

Transportation

Buses

Transportation in Tai Po Town is much like any other places of Hong Kong. Due to the high population, Hong Kong has double-decker buses. There are some buses that lead to the rest of Hong Kong such as the KMB bus route 271 that goes from Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po Town to West Kowloon Station in Tsim Sha Tsui and bus route 307 which goes from Central Tai Po Town towards the Central Ferry Piers via Central and Wan Chai of Victoria. There are also buses that lead directly to the airport such as A47X from Tai Po to Hong Kong Airport and E41 from Tai Po Centre to Hong Kong International Airport within 90 minutes.

Railway

Two railway stations along the East Rail Line serve Tai Po, namely: Tai Po Market Station and Tai Wo Station. Trains originate at the Hong Kong-Chinese border, at either Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau stations, and travel south to Hung Hom Station in Kowloon, passing through Tai Po on the way.
The railway, previously known as the KCR British Section, opened in 1910. The old Tai Po Market Station opened on that date and was closed in 1983, when the modern station of the same name opened as part of an upgrading of the line by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. Tai Wo Station opened in 1989. In 2007 the line was leased for 50 years to the MTR Corporation.
Tai Po Kau Station served the Tai Po Kau area between 1910 and 1983. It has since been demolished.

Education

Tai Po District are roughly divided by two primary school districts. The 84 school district for Tai Po New Town and surrounding villages, while Sai Kung North belongs to the 95 school district; the Sai Kung District also belongs to the 95 school district.
As of 2018, there were 19 secondary schools in the whole Tai Po District, all located in the Tai Po New Town. The secondary school district of Tai Po District, was designated "NET NT6".
Several international schools are located in the Tai Po District. They do not belong to any school district. The Tai Po campus of Hong Kong Japanese School's International Section was opened in 1997. American School Hong Kong was scheduled to open in Tai Po in 2016. Norwegian International School occupied a building former known as The Tai Po Bungalow as campus.
Li Po Chun United World College, located in Ma On Shan of the Sha Tin district, is near to the border of Sai Kung North exclave of the Tai Po district.
The campus of the Education University of Hong Kong, formerly the Hong Kong Institute of Education, is located in the Tai Po District since 1997. The institute gained university status in 2016. The campus is located just north of Tai Po Industrial Estate. It is the only university of the district.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is located in the border between Tai Po and Sha Tin districts.

Sports

The government leased a government land to the Tai Po Sports Association in 1988, to run another public swimming pool. The swimming pool, which also known as the "Jockey Club swimming pool", was closed in 1999. A new swimming pool structure was planned to build. However, the construction was not yet finished, as of 2015.
The district had several sport complex for the local population, they were owned and operated by the government and located in the Tai Po New Town. Another facility, opened in 1983, Li Fook Lam Indoor Sports Centre, was operated by the Tai Po Sports Association Limited, a non-profit making limited company.

Football

is the first district football team ever to make it to the Hong Kong First Division League among the 19 district football sides from the Hong Kong Third District Division League. The club plays its home games at Tai Po Sports Ground and has since won the 2008-09 Hong Kong FA Cup.
The district had several football fields for amateur football. In 2016, another football fields and sport complex would be built.

Economy

, which prints all the bank notes in Hong Kong, is located in the Tai Po Industrial Estate, an industrial area of light industries
Hong Kong and China Gas also has its major gas plant in the industrial estate, which supplies most of the town gas of the city from that plant.

Spa Resort Development

There is a plan to develop a spa hotel resort at Ting Kok, near Tai Mei Tuk. The site will occupy 61,000 sq m and has no more than 230 hotel rooms. Tai Po District councilor Yam Kai-Kong admits the benefits from tourism and job opportunities will be good but he is also concerned about the mangroves and increased traffic in the area.

Place of interests

The local council of the district, Tai Po District Council, was divided into several subdivisions, known as electoral constituencies. However, the border of those electoral constituencies would under review in each election. It was also accused of gerrymandering for the proposed change of the border for several constituencies in the district for 2019 election.
In the election of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Tai Po District belongs to the cross-district electoral constituency New Territories East.
In the past, Tai Po District belonged to the Regional Council, the middle-tier local government between the city's Legislative Council and the district councils. The Regional Council oversee the New Territories, while its counterpart, Urban Council, oversee Kowloon and the Hong Kong Island. However, they were abolished. The executive function of the Regional Council was takeover by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and other government departments.
Before the establishment of the Tai Po District, the area belonged to the District Office North, which its headquarter is located in Tai Po; the District Officer was also resided in Tai Po in the Island House on Yuen Chau Tsai.
The election for the village head, as well as councilors of Heung Yee Kuk, has its own electoral constituencies, which based on the boundary of the villages.