Sha Tau Kok

Closed town in the North District, Hong Kong

For the adjacent district with the same Chinese name, belonging to the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen (Shamchun), see Shatoujiao Subdistrict.

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Closed town in Hong Kong, China

Sha Tau Kok

沙頭角

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 WAN Wo-fai
Sha Tau Kok

Traditional Chinese| 沙頭角
Simplified Chinese| 沙头角
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Shātóujiǎo
Hakka
Romanization| Sa1tiu2gok5
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization| Sā tàuh gok
Jyutping| Sa1 tau4 gok8
Sidney Lau| Sa1 Tau4 Gok3

Sha Tau Kok is a closed town in Hong Kong. The last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area, it is Hong Kong's northernmost town.

## Geography[edit]

Chung Ying Street, the famous street of Sha Tau Kok. The high rise buildings are located in Shenzhen.

The small rural village of 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.[1]

## History[edit]

At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Sha Tau Kok was 14.[2]

In 2022, a pilot scheme was announced, where limited areas of the town were opened to tourists.[3] As of July 2023, the government is working on a feasibility study to redevelop the border Control Point between the town and mainland China.[4]

## The Town[edit]

Sha Tau Kok Clinic along Sha Tau Kok Road at Shek Chung Au, Sha Tau Kok.

Sha Tau Kok on the Hong Kong side of the border is a rural 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 government housing complex in Sha Tau Kok or in other nearby villages. Many working families return to visit at weekends, during festivals or on holidays.

## Border[edit]

See also: Sha Tau Kok Control Point and Chung Ying Street

A police post in Chung Ying Street

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.

The border between mainland China and Hong Kong runs along Chung Ying Street. There is a perception of it being a notorious point of goods trafficking. When the checkpoint opened, a flow of Chinese nationals entered Chung Ying Street with visiting permits. Some make several trips a day, acquiring goods and abusing the custom tariff limits on goods. These traffickers then unload their burden to collect their pay inside mainland Shatoujiao. 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.

The control point of the access to Shenzhen is located northwest of the hill in Shan Tsui (山咀).

An influx of mainland China workers flow into Chung Ying Street from 7am onwards when the custom post opens. Residents from the Chung Ying Street area are free to pass in and out of the Chinese border post as they have residency passes. Other non-residents must be issued permits to enter from the Chinese authorities. Since the early 1990s Chung Ying Street has been an established tourist site famous for imported products via Hong Kong, where prices may be higher than within China.

It is possible to travel into Shatoujiao on the China side, via the Sha Tau Kok border. Coaches run at a regular schedule from Luen Wo Hui Bus Terminus, situated near the Luen Wo Market and Library complex, and from Fanling MTR station. Tickets cost HK$20 for each passenger as of 2005. 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.

Here, passengers alight, go through customs, and have their documents processed, before reboarding 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.

On 27 January 2005, it was announced that street maps for tourists would be put up to aid tourists' navigation. A museum situated near the harbour in Chung Ying Street was built to celebrate the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. It has on display a history of Sha Tau Kok and its place in the incorporation of territory into British Hong Kong at the end of the 19th century. A bronze Peace Bell was installed nearby.

## Public housing[edit]

Main article: Sha Tau Kok Chuen

Sha Tau Kok Chuen Tin Hau temple in Yim Liu Ha.

Sha Tau Kok Chuen (Chinese: 沙頭角邨) is a public housing estate within the Closed Area[5] built to accommodate the residents affected by the clearance in Sha Tau Kok Closed Area.[6] 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.[7][8]

## Transport[edit]

Main article: Sha Tau Kok Road

Sha Tau Kok Road near Shek Chung Au.

The terminus of Sha Tau Kok Railway, which ceased to operate on 1 April 1929 and was replaced by Sha Tau Kok Road, was located in the town. Sha Tau Kok Railway was built from the original narrow gauge of the KCR British Section, which was replaced by standard gauge. Since then, however, 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). Currently, both Kowloon Motor Bus and minibus services Sha Tau Kok. There are a few shops nearby, at Sha Tau Kok Chuen.

Today, Sha Tau Kok 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. Both begin in Sheung Shui and pass through Luen Wo Hui before terminating at Sha Tau Kok. 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 the bus by police personnel.

## Education[edit]

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.[9]

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.[10]

Other schools:

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

## Notable people[edit]

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

## See also[edit]

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

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Marine fish culture, pond fish culture and oyster culture". Fisheries Branch. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
2. ^ Hase, Patrick (1996). "Traditional Life in the New Territories: The Evidence of the 1911 and 1921 Censuses" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 36: 81. ISSN 1991-7295.
3. ^ "Hong Kong frontier town grants tourists limited access as part of pilot scheme". South China Morning Post. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
4. ^ Chan, Irene (18 July 2023). "Planned Hong Kong tech hub may apply 'innovative' immigration arrangements to facilitate cross-border travel". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
5. ^ Service Boundary of Integrated Home Care Services Teams (Ordinary Cases) in North District
6. ^ Sha Tau Kok Chuen (Chinese)
7. ^ Sha Tau Kok Chuen
8. ^ Housing Society Continues to Freeze Rents for Another Year
9. ^ "POA School Net 83" (PDF). Education Bureau. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
10. ^ Yau, Elaine (21 June 2013). "Hong Kong's village schools make a comeback". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

## Further reading[edit]

* 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.

## External links[edit]

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

* v
* t
* e

China–Hong Kong border crossings

China|

| Land/Rail|

* Futian Port
* Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Port
* Huanggang Port
* Heung Yuen Wai
* Luohu Port
* Shatoujiao Subdistrict
* Shenzhen Bay Port
* Wenjindu Port
* West Kowloon railway station

|

Water|

* Doumen Port
* Fuyong Port
* Gaoming Port
* Gongyi Port
* Heshan Port
* Humen Port
* Jiangmen Port
* Jiuzhou Port
* Lianhuashan (Panyu) Port
* Nansha Port
* Pingzhou Port
* Sanbu Port
* Shekou Port
* Shunde Port
* Zhaoqing Port
* Zhongshan Port

Hong Kong|

| Land/Rail|

* Express Rail Link West Kowloon Control Point
* Heung Yuen Wai Control Point
* Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Control Point
* Lo Wu Control Point
* Lok Ma Chau Control Point
* Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point
* Man Kam To Control Point
* Sha Tau Kok Control Point
* Shenzhen Bay Control Point

|

Water|

* China Ferry Terminal Control Point
* Macau Ferry Terminal Control Point
* Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal Control Point

Defunct|

| China|

* Beijing West railway station
* Dongguan Changping railway station
* Foshan railway station
* Guangzhou railway station
* Guangzhou East railway station
* Shanghai railway station
* (Old) Shekou Port
* Zhaoqing railway station

|

Hong Kong|

* Hung Hom Control Point
* Sham Shui Po Ferry Pier
* Tai Kok Tsui Ferry Pier

* Airports not included.

* * Proposed / planned

* See also: General Administration of Customs
* Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration
* List of airports in China
* Immigration Department
* Customs and Excise Department
* List of immigration control points in Hong Kong
* Hong Kong International Airport
* Skypier

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