Sha Tau Kok

Sha Tau Kok 沙頭角 Sathewkok
Closed town
Pier of Sha Tau Kok and Starling Inlet with Tin Hau Temple on the left
Sha Tau Kok Location in Hong Kong
Coordinates: 22°33′N 114°13′E / 22.550°N 114.217°E / 22.550; 114.217
Country	China
Special Administrative Region	Hong Kong
District	North District
District Councillor	Mr. Lai Chi-kin, JP[1]

Sha Tau Kok is a closed town in Hong Kong. It is the last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area and is Hong Kong's northernmost town. Sha Tau Kok District refers to the Rural Committee district encompassing 46 villages within North District.^[2]

Located within the Mirs Bay area, Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern shoreline of Starling Inlet, 10 km north-east of Fanling. The town centre is by the sea and the northern part of the town encompasses the hill known as Yuen Tuen Shan (元墩山).

A section of Starling Inlet located offshore of Sha Tau Kok is one of the 26 designated marine fish culture zones in Hong Kong.^[3]

Variety of Stone tools such as Hammers, Pounders, Axes, and Adzes dating to the Neolithic Period, have been excavated in Sha Tau Kok San Tsuen in 2001.^[4][5] Pottery dating to the Han dynasty was also found there.^[6]

Although not much is known about settlements in the area before the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the Mirs Bay area attracted attention from the provincial imperial government from an early day for it's salt flats and pearl beds, probably from the fifth century and eight century respectively.^[7]

After the tragic Coastal Evacuation of 1662–1668, most original settlers probably did not survive or left for better locations such as Yuen Long and Shenzhen. The first Hakka settlers arrived to settle in North West to North East Mirs Bay, with more villages established in the 18th century.^[8]

The village alliance “Sam Heung" (Chinese: 三鄉, lit. Alliance of Three Villages), occupied the original shoreline of Sha Tau Kok, which was called Tai Tan Tung (Chinese: 大坦洞). The three villages included Shan Tsui, Tong To, and Tam Shui Hang.^[9]

During the early 1800s, five wealthy villages including Shan Tsui, Tam Shui Hang, Wo Hang, Nam Chung, and Luk Keng invested in the reclamation of Sha Tau Kok to provide more farmland for the growing population.^[9]

Around the 1830s, leaders from 10 or so villages formed an alliance called the Shap Yeuk (Chinese: 十約) to establish a new market at the newly reclaimed Sha Lan Ha, that would allow the Sha Tau Kok area to operate independent from older markets in Shenzhen.^[7] The Market was later named Tung Wo Market (Chinese: 東和墟, lit. Eastern Peace Market), and was described in 1848 by Basel missionary Theodore Hamberg as "a great market, quite given over to trade, newly built, and bustling with business".^[10] In the 1850s there were approximately fifty shops.^[11]

The name "Sha Tau Kok" first appeared in 1863, in the genealogy of the Ng (Chinese: 吳) Clan of Sha Lan Ha/Sha Lan Xia (Chinese: 沙欄吓). According to the Ngs, Sha Tau Kok was originally the name of the bay.^[9] it was also used as a general name for the Northwestern part of Mirs Bay in Volonteri's map of Sun On District in 1866.^[12]

As a result of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, in 1898 Sha Tau Kok was leased to the British. Within the lease, Tung Wo Market was not included, leading to the problem of shopkeepers in Tung Wo being cut off from their ancestral villages in Hong Kong. On 19 April 1899 The Elders of the Shap Yeuk petitioned the district magistrate and begged that the lease to not go forward, fearing excessive taxation and practical problems if they lived in British Territory while their market was in Chinese territory.^[13] But eventually this did not change the lease, leading to a host of problems in the 20th century which led to the decline of Tung Wo Market.^[14]

At the time of the 1911 government census, the population of Sha Tau Kok district was 8570, while the population of Sha Tau Kok Village (British territory) was 14.^{[15][notes 1]} The population was mostly Hakka, with a small minority of Punti and Hoklo. At the time, the present day area of Sha Tau Kok Chuen and Yim Liu Ha was covered with marshes and salt fields. A sizable Hoklo population worked at those salt fields, they were the largest group of Hoklo speaking population in the Northern District.^[15]

In 1921, the total population of Sha Tau Kok district was 8357, growing to 8941 in 1931.^{[16][notes 2]} During the 1920s, there were around a hundred shops in Tung Wo Market, with some moving across the border to San Lau Street.^[17]

On 8 July during the 1967 Hong Kong riots, several hundred demonstrators from the People's Republic of China, including members of the People's Militia, crossed the border at Sha Tau Kok and attacked the police post there. The police attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas and wooden bullets. They then came under fire from several points, including automatic fire from Chinese territory, prompting an exchange of gunfire. Five police officers were killed and eleven were injured. Gunfire stopped with the arrival of a battalion from the British garrison.^[18]

On 27 January 2005, it was announced that street maps for tourists would be put up to aid tourists' navigation.

In 2022, a pilot scheme was announced, under which limited areas of the town were opened to tourists.^[19] In July 2023, it was announced that the government was working on a feasibility study to redevelop the border Control Point between the town and mainland China.^[20] Starting on 1 January 2024, a daily quota of 1,000 individual visitors (700 group visitors and 300 individual travellers) were permitted visit, as long as they had a Tourism Closed Area Permit. Individual travellers were only allowed to enter the area by public transport.^[21] Although tourists can visit most parts of Sha Tau Kok, Chung Ying Street remains off limits.^[22] Although some residents are supportive of the opening up, the opening up has also led to concern from some residents that tourists might affect the historically closed community.^[23]

Sha Tau Kok town on the Hong Kong side of the border is a small town located in the North District. The town has a post office, a bank and a few shops. Most of its residents are from Hakka farming or Hoklo (Hokkien) fishing backgrounds. As both farming and fishing have declined in the past few decades, better educated younger people tend to move out and live and work in urban areas. Older villagers, however, remain, most living in the Sha Tau Kok Chuen public housing complex or in other nearby villages.^[24] Many working families return to visit at weekends during festivals or on holidays to attend ceremonies, such as the deity-thanking ceremony at Yim Liu Ha Tsuen Tin Hau Temple.^[25]

Sha Tau Kok has the longest pier in Hong Kong, Sha Tau Kok pier. Built in the 1960s and redeveloped in 2004, It spans 280 meters to reach the deeper waters of Starling Inlet, allowing larger vessels to berth at Sha Tau Kok.^[25]

Sha Tau Kok Control Point is one of Hong Kong's border crossing points at the geographical land border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in China. The others are Man Kam To Control Point, Lo Wu Control Point, Lok Ma Chau Control Point, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point, Heung Yuen Wai Control Point and Shenzhen Bay Control Point.^[26]

The border between mainland China and Hong Kong runs along Chung Ying Street. Before implementation of the "Open Door" policy in the 1980s, both sides exercised strict control over cross-boundary activities of the street. With the exception of indigenous residents, only visitors with a permit are allowed to visit Chung Ying Street.^[27]

After the "Open Door" policy was put in place to allow freer travel between the two sides, Mainland travelers often flocked Chung Ying Street to source goods unavailable in mainland China for personal use.^[28][29] simultaneously it has become notorious point of goods trafficking, attracting businessmen and employment seekers looking to capitalize on the opportunities created by the policy. Hawking and touting, smuggling, unlawful import and export of goods and illegal employment became prominent in Chung Ying Street.^[27]

Traffickers would enter Chung Ying Street with visiting permits, some make several trips a day acquiring goods and abusing the custom tariff limits on goods such as baby formula, soaps, electronics, and fabrics.^[30] These traffickers then unload their burden to collect their pay inside mainland Shatoujiao, or sell further mainland for a profit.^[31] Although there are a lot of goods leaving Hong Kong from Sha Tau Kok via Chung Ying Street, there is also an inflow of foodstuffs and other commodities that come through from China into Hong Kong throughout the day, only limited by the closure of the Chinese customs post.

A variety of items have been smuggled through the border. For example, in 1996, 2,511 kilograms of raw un-inspected meat was seized in a single case. And in 1997, false trade mark clothes and imported garments without license valued at over $4.5 million were also seized. Meanwhile, live chickens, pirated CDs, animal products of protected species as Pangolins, Owls, Eagles and Tigers have also been seized.^[27] Drugs trafficking is also common till the present, with Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and Cannabis being imported through the Sha Tau Kok border.^[32][33][34] Illegally imported pet animals such as cats and dogs, are also common.^[35][36]

The control point of the access to Shenzhen is located northwest of the hill in Shan Tsui (山咀). It is possible to travel into Shatoujiao on the China side, via the Sha Tau Kok border. a dedicated coach line Sha Tau Kok express (Chinese: 沙頭角快線), run at a regular schedule from Sheung Shui MTR station, Fan Ling MTR station, Kowloon Tong, and Yau Ma Tei. Since 2018, Tickets range from HK$33 (Sheung Shui) to HK$50 (Yau Ma Tei) for each passenger. Travellers are taken through the Shek Chung Au (石涌凹) border checkpoint without permit search, then heading directly to the Sha Tau Kok Control Point.^[37]

Here, passengers alight, go through customs, and have their documents processed, before re-boarding the coach to be driven to the mainland border immigration checkpoint. They alight and take all their belongings through the mainland Chinese customs and again have their documents processed. Travellers from outside China are advised to obtain entry visas from the appropriate authorities, or via a travel agent before attempting the entry. Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality should hold Home Return Permits (回鄉證) for entry into China.^[38]

Sha Tau Kok Chuen (Chinese: 沙頭角邨) is a public housing estate within the Closed Area^[39] built to accommodate the residents affected by the clearance in Sha Tau Kok Closed Area.^[40] It consists of 51 low-rise blocks completed in 1988, 1989 and 1991, and it is the public housing estate with the most number of blocks in Hong Kong.^[41]

Sha Tau Kok is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 83. Within the school net are two aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money): Fuk Tak Education Society Primary School and Sha Tau Kok Central Primary School. No government schools are in the net.^[42]

Shan Tsui Public School (山咀公立學校) is in Sha Tau Kok. In 2013 90% of the about 200 students were Hong Kong residents living in Shenzhen.^[43]

Other schools:

• Kwan Ah School
• Sha Tau Kok Central Primary School
• Tai Wah Public Schools

• Lee Hong Lim – Hong Kong First Division footballer
• Lee Wai Lim – Hong Kong First Division footballer

Before there were roads to access Sha Tau Kok, a branch of the KCR: Sha Tau Kok Railway served as the town's main transport. Completed in 1912, this service had three stops, linking Fan Ling Station to Sha Tau Kok station. It was built from the original narrow gauge of the KCR British Section, and later replaced by standard gauge. After Sha Tau Kok Road was completed, the Sha Tau Kok Railway and it's terminus ceased to operate on 1 April 1928.^[44] However, even afterwards the area formerly occupied by the terminus is still known as the train station or fo cha teu in the local dialects (火車頭 Pinyin:huǒchētóu).^[45]

Currently, there are both Kowloon Motor Bus and minibus services in Sha Tau Kok. The town has a bus station served by the KMB route 78K service as well as the smaller sixteen-seater minibus or public light bus service route number 55K.^[46][47] Both begin in Sheung Shui and pass through Luen Wo Hui before terminating at Sha Tau Kok. Travelers can also board the KMB route 277A from Lam Tin station to Sha Tau Kok.^[48] Alternatively, visitors can also travel by taxi.^[49] However, passengers may not proceed through the Closed Area border checkpoint if they do not carry a valid permit. Police personnel will board the bus at the checkpoint to check the ID Card or identification documents and the required Frontier Closed Area permit of each passenger. If passengers do not possess these documents, they will be asked to leave by police personnel.^[49]

• Kuk Po
• Lai Chi Wo
• List of places in Hong Kong
• List of villages in Hong Kong
• MacIntosh Forts
• Shatoujiao Subdistrict
• Yim Liu Ha

• Hase, P.H. (1990). "Sha Tau Kok in 1853" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 30: 281–297. ISSN 1991-7295. (includes a translation of a description of that year)
• Hase, Patrick (1993). "Eastern Peace: Sha Tau Kok Market in 1925" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 33: 147–202. ISSN 1991-7295.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sha Tau Kok.

• Delineation of area of existing village Sha Tau Kok Market (East) (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
• Delineation of area of existing village Sha Tau Kok Market (West Lower) (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
• Delineation of area of existing village Sha Tau Kok Market (West Upper) (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
• Details of Sha Tau Kok from HK-place.com
• Details of the rural area of Sha Tau Kok from HK-place.com