Tai Wai


Tai Wai is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin New Town and the Lion Rock. It is administratively part of Sha Tin District.
With an MTR station serving two lines, 5 bus termini and several tunnels and roads connecting it to other parts of the New Territories, Kowloon and Tsuen Wan, Tai Wai is an important transportation node in Hong Kong.

Geography

Tai Wai occupies the southwestern end of the Sha Tin Valley. The Sha Tin area is located directly northeast of Tai Wai. Hill ranges separate Tai Wai from Kowloon in the south, and from Tsuen Wan in the west. The Tai Wai Nullah, sometimes referred to as the upper stream of Shing Mun River, flows through Tai Wai, where it joins the Shing Mun River. The Shing Mun River then flows in a southwest–northeast direction across the Sha Tin Valley toward Tolo Harbour.

History

Sprouting from traditional Chinese farming villages growing rice, vegetables and fruits, such as choy sum, Chinese broccoli, bamboo, banana, peach, and lychee, Tai Wai area once functioned as a light suburban industrial park in the 1970s. Few factory buildings are still in use, mostly as warehouses. The current urbanization of the area is the consequence of the development of Sha Tin New Town that started in the 1970s.
Tai Wai village, where the name of the area came from, was the largest and oldest walled village in Sha Tin. It was built in 1574 during the Ming Dynasty, and was called Chik Chuen Wai at the time. It was originally made up of 16 families, Wai, Chan, Ng, Yeung, Wong, Lee, Hui, Cheng, Tong, Yuen, Yau, Lam, Lok, Tam, Mok and Choy.
The Wai family, being the largest family, is thought to be the direct descendants of the famous founder general of the Han Dynasty, Han Xin, who purportedly fled there to escape executions ordered by Emperor Gao of Han's empress Empress Lü Zhi. The Han descendants changed their surname into Wai by splitting the word Han in two halves and took up the character on the right hand side.
The Cheng family, on the other hand, originated from a place called Xingyang in Zhengzhou, Henan which is the place where Chang'e supposedly flew to the Moon. It is also the birthplace of Li Shangyin, one of the most famous poets in the late Tang Dynasty.
The first public housing estate built in the area was Mei Lam Estate, with the first two blocks of its Phase 1 completed in 1981. Tai Wai Station opened in August 1983.

Electoral constituencies

Tai Wai covers 11 of the 38 electoral constituencies in Sha Tin District, as defined at the time of the 2015 Hong Kong District Council elections. They are: Chun Fung, Sun Tin Wai, Chui Tin, Hin Ka, Lower Shing Mun, Wan Shing, Keng Hau, Tin Sum, Chui Ka, Tai Wai, Chung Tin.

Demographics

Tai Wai is composed largely of low to medium income households of different ethnic backgrounds ranging from local Chinese to Westerners. According to the 2016 Population By-census, the number of persons living in Tai Wai was as follows:
ConstituencyMaleFemaleTotal
Chun Fung 7,1318,13515,266
Sun Tin Wai 7,5078,62116,128
Chui Tin 7,1668,07815,244
Hin Ka 5,7366,45812,194
Lower Shing Mun 8,6149,52018,134
Wan Shing 9,79912,47022,269
Keng Hau 9,54811,39720,945
Tin Sum 7,0637,45014,513
Chui Ka 7,6498,58316,232
Tai Wai 9,13911,12720,266
Chung Tin 6,6498,11514,764
Total86,00199,954185,955

Housing

A large part of the population of Tai Wai lives in public housing estates. Privately owned apartment blocks are also common and higher income luxury housing is also available in various parts of Tai Wai. Hundreds of three storey village houses can be found in the villages of the area.

Public housing

The table below lists all the public housing estates in Tai Wai, including Public Rental Housing, Home Ownership Scheme, Tenants Purchase Scheme and Private Sector Participation Scheme.
NameTypeInaug.No BlocksNo UnitsNotes
Carado GardenPSPS199061,988
Chun Shek EstatePublic198442,166
Fung Shing CourtHOS198532,448
Grandway GardenPSPS19893864
Hin Keng EstateTPS198681,004
Hin Yiu EstatePublic20051799
Holford GardenPSPS19853800
Ka Keng CourtHOS20022640
Ka Tin CourtHOS198861,680
King Tin CourtHOS198361,424
Lung Hang EstatePublic198364,376
May Shing CourtHOS198232,192
Mei Chung CourtHOS199661,940
Mei Lam EstatePublic198144,156
Mei Tin EstatePublic200643,164
Sun Chui EstatePublic198386,692
Sun Tin Wai EstatePublic198183,430

Festival City

is a HK$20 billion residential-commercial development project by Cheung Kong and MTR Corporation located above the Tai Wai Maintenance Centre. Phase I was completed in September 2010, Phase II in October 2011, and Phase III in August 2012. The plan was to build 12 50-stories high residential towers with a total construction area of 313,955 square meters as well as 25,890 square meters for the general public's use. It offers 4,264 flats to families, two schools and one community facility. This residential project raised the population of Tai Wai significantly. The controversy of this project is that the 12 towers would create an urban heat island effect and block off the air flow of the area.

Other estates

in Tai Wai include:
A number of villages still exist in Tai Wai and most of them are surrounded by the towers of housing estates. Traditional village layout and some historic buildings can still be found.
Ha Keng Hau, Sheung Keng Hau and Hin Tin are three adjacent villages located along Hin Keng Street, along a northeast–southwest direction. Hin Keng Estate, located northeast of the villages and across Hin Keng Street, was named after them.
Villages in the vicinity of Che Kung Temple:
Other villages in Tai Wai include:
Several public housing estates have a shopping centre. The only private shopping centre is Grandeur Shopping Arcade, located within Grandeur Garden, along Tai Wai Road.

Recreational

Sports centres

There are two public sport centres in Tai Wai, making up 40% of the total number of centres in Sha Tin. They are both located in major estates in Tai Wai, namely Mei Lam Estate and Hin Keng Estate. The two sport centres offer a wide range of facilities including a fitness centre with weight training and cardiovascular equipment, squash courts as well as badminton courts. These sport centres are owned and operated by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, however the facilities are charged prior to booking with several exceptions.
The Tai Wai Cycling Park, where beginners could practice their cycling skills, was demolished in 2001 to make way for the railway terminus of the Ma On Shan Line. A number of bicycle rental shops can be found in Tai Wai and bicycle lanes run along the Shing Mun River and link Tai Wai to Tai Po, Ma On Shan and Plover Cove Reservoir.

Hiking

Hiking is also a popular activity in Tai Wai. Situated at the end of a valley, Tai Wai is surrounded by country parks: Shing Mun, Kam Shan, Lion Rock and Ma On Shan. Sections of the Wilson Trail and the MacLehose Trail run across the hills near Tai Wai.

Food

Some sources mention Tai Wai as being famous for its chicken porridges and roast baby pigeon.

Schools

Tai Wai has tens of primary and secondary schools, mostly public, some with religious background. They include:

Temples

Other historic or otherwise notable buildings and structures in Tai Wai include:

MTR

is on the East Rail Line and the Tuen Ma Line of the MTR. The northward termini of the East Rail Line, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations, located at the border with Shenzhen, are about 30 minutes away. The station was opened in 1983 and its expansion for the Ma On Shan Line was completed in September 2004.
Che Kung Temple Station of the Tuen Ma Line is also located in the Tai Wai area. It opened in 2004.
In 2002 KCRC won the bid to plan, build and operate the Sha Tin to Central Link, and in 2004 it submitted the Draft Final Proposal to the Government. The March 2008 MTR-KCR revised proposal includes the extension of East Rail Line across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and the extension of Ma On Shan Line to West Rail Line via East Kowloon. This project will start construction in 2010 while the Tai Wai to Hung Hom section was to be completed in 2015 but will now be completed in 2019 and the Cross Harbour section was to be completed in 2019 but will now be completed in 2021. As part of this project, a new station was built in the Tai Wai area, Hin Keng Station, which opened in February 2020.

Road connections

Tai Wai is the main gateway of tunnels and roads connecting the New Territories to Kowloon as well as Tsuen Wan due to its convenient location. In the early 20th century and until the Lion Rock Tunnel, the first road tunnel in Hong Kong, was built in 1967, Tai Po Road was the main road connecting Tai Wai and the New Territories to Kowloon. Tai Po Road to this day remains as the only toll-free road connecting the two areas.
The tunnels are: Lion Rock Tunnel, Shing Mun Tunnels and Sha Tin Heights Tunnel. Sha Tin Heights Tunnel opened in March 2008 to lessen the traffic of the Kowloon Tunnels and Tai Po Road. It is part of Route 8 that connects Tai Wai to the airport over the Stonecutters Bridge and through the Nam Wan Tunnel.

Bus

A large percentage of the bus routes that go past Tai Wai are circular routes which both start and terminate in Sha Tin. There are also long-distance routes that go past famous Hong Kong landmarks and attractions. They include 170, which goes to Ocean Park; E42 goes to the airport and R42 to Disneyland.
There are 5 major bus termini in Tai Wai :
Many green minibus routes that pass Tai Wai go around all parts of Sha Tin to provide feeder services for major public transport operators such as the MTR. Routes such as 481B go to the Tsuen Wan area via Shing Mun Tunnel offering a fast but cheap alternative to buses and the MTR. Residents' buses also operate at Tai Wai Station. Union Hospital's free shuttle bus also operates from there at 10-minute frequencies.