Cheung Sha Wan
Cheung Sha Wan is an area between Lai Chi Kok and Sham Shui Po in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is mainly residential to the north and south, with an industrial area in between. Administratively it is part of Sham Shui Po District which also includes Lai Chi Kok. History. As its (Chinese) name suggests , it was formerly a bay with a long sandy beach. It spans roughly from today's Butterfly Valley Road at the west to Yen Chow Street at the east. The beach was a gathering place for many Tanka fishermen before its development . The original shoreline approximates the present Castle Peak Road and Un Chau Street. Inland, villages of Om Yam, Ma Lung Hang, Pak Shu Lung, So Uk, Li Uk, Wong Uk and others sparsely occupied the whole bay of Cheung Sha Wan. Rivers from Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest and Piper's Hill formed a long plain behind the beach. Farmlands filled between villages. A larger river ran in Butterfly Valley separating Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok. A sandbar was found at the mouth of its estuary. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb is located in Cheung Sha Wan , and dates from AD 25 - 220. It is the oldest known constructed structure in Hong Kong, and demonstrates that early Chinese civilization had spread to Hong Kong by 2,000 years ago. Before World War I, two ends, Lai Chi Kok and Sham Shui Po, of Cheung Sha Wan had been reclaimed. The former was for military use and the later emerged as a new town north of Tai Kok Tsui. In April 2006, a total of 580 unused shells from the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong were found buried at Tonkin Street in Cheung Sha Wan. The residents were temporarily  evacuated and the shells were detonated safely. The bay of Cheung Sha Wan was reclaimed in several phases in the twentieth century. The last reclamation in 1990s extended the area close to Stonecutters Island. The shipbuilding and repair industries on the old shore were moved to near the island and the sites were replaced by some private housing estates constructed in the early 2000s. Economy. Cheung Sha Wan was a manufacturing centre after the war, with a number of light industries, especially textile and clothing. After the PRC implemented its open door policy in the 1980s, many factories relocated to  the mainland, vacating the area's industrial buildings (some of which have since been converted into offices and warehouses). There are several wholesale markets in Cheung Sha Wan. They include Cheung San Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market, Cheung Sha Wan Vegetable Wholesale Market and many wholesale clothes markets. The Vegetable Marketing Organisation's Premium Vegetable Packaging Centre also locates in central Cheung Sha Wan. The head office of Giordano is in the Tin On Industrial Building, Cheung Sha Wan. Housing. Private housing estates. Several of the private housing estates were built on a former site of a shipyard which was  relocated owing to the commencement of the West Kowloon Reclamation, or reclaimed land adjacent to it. Four private housing estates are collectively known as the "Four Little Dragons of West Kowloon" () because each of them are similar in scale and they are located next to each other. Public housing estates. A new public housing estate named Hoi Lai Estate (formerly named Hoi Lai Court before the government turned it into a public housing estate) is located in the area and had the most expensive rental fees within the Sham Shui Po District. Transport. MTR stations. The area is served by  two stations on MTR Tsuen Wan line: Lai Chi Kok station is actually located not in Lai Chi Kok, but in Cheung Sha Wan. The fact that references to Cheung Sha Wan can be found on many buildings and amenities near Lai Chi Kok station continues to be a source of confusion for many. Bus routes. These bus routes terminate in Cheung Sha Wan, but on Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road and Castle Peak Road there are many more routes that are available.