Discovery Bay

Discovery Bay is a residential community located on Lantau Island in Hong Kong.
The 2021 census recorded a population of 19,336 residents in DB, with 55% of them being non-Chinese. DB is home to a significant community compared of expatriates from over fifty countries. It is one of the most ethnically diverse places in Hong Kong. With only 45% of the population being Chinese, the largest ethnic minority groups in the community is white and Filipinos. DB is located 2 km west of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and approximately 12 km west from the nearest point on Hong Kong Island.
Discovery Bay is a key community in Lantau Island and enjoys a very low plot ratio of 0.15.

History

In May 1973, the Hong Kong Resort Company was established by Edward Wong Wing-cheung, a Hong Kong merchant. Following two years of planning and negotiation, a 'Master Plan' was agreed in December 1975 between HKR and the Hong Kong government. By New Grant No. 6122 of 10 September 1976, HKR agreed The plan called for development, on Lot 385 at Tai Pak Wan, of "membership club houses and a leisure resort and associated facilities which shall include an hotel or hotels... a cable-car system... and a non-membership golf course..." In addition, HKR handed over HK$61.5 million in exchange for the grant and undertook to spend no less than another HK$600 million on development within 10 years of the grant.
Within months, however, Wong faced financial difficulty. The Soviet-government-controlled Moscow Narodny Bank filed a writ in Hong Kong on 1 April 1977 against Wong himself for return of US$7 million advanced in 1973, as well as against Wong's Panamanian bank holding company, Paclantic Financing Co., Inc., for US$22.12 million in proceedings in Panama. Both the Chinese and British governments were concerned to prevent the property rights to the single largest piece of privately controlled land in Hong Kong falling into the hands of the Russian bank during times of deepening political uncertainty for Hong Kong. Sir David Akers-Jones, then-Secretary for the New Territories, led the government's efforts to avert that prospect, steering HKR into the hands of Hong Kong-based Chinese industrialist Cha Chi-ming. It is suspected that Cha decided to bid for the project under the instruction of Liao Chengzhi, then director of China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office to avoid Soviet acquisition of Hong Kong land.
Having lost control of HKR and facing bankruptcy proceedings, Wong left Hong Kong in January 1977 while mooting the establishment of a Pacific Atlantic Bank of Miami and going into the casino business with the Anderson group of whom one Robert B. Anderson, of One Rockefeller Plaza, had been a fellow director on the HKR board.
Cha Chi-ming, better known for running China Dyeing Works Ltd during the 1970s, an international textile group, acquired equity interest in HKR in 1977. By 1979 all debts were paid off and work started on the reservoir and the core infrastructure but for a very different sort of project – essentially a residential community offering a relaxed lifestyle. This decision was revisited in 2004 when it was discovered that Akers-Jones did not seek approval from the Executive Council for the deviation from the terms of the Land Grant. In a 2004 report by the government's Audit Commission, the Lands Department was severely criticised for allowing this to happen, particularly since Akers-Jones did not call on HKR under Cha to pay any additional land premium. After retiring from government, in 2000 Akers-Jones joined the board of Mingly Corporation, also controlled by Cha.
Unlike other large Hong Kong developments, everything in DB was built with private money, including roads, electricity and the water supply. The government-operated fire and police station, community hall and the government-aided primary school were also built by the developer. These developments have to be approved and checked by the government with the official Master Plan version 6.0a in 2003, including the major extension in 2003 in Yi Pak Wan.

Geography

As with most of the terrain in Hong Kong, Lantau Island seems to be a set of hills that rise out of the water. DB is wedged between the hills and the sea and both environments are accessible from the edges of the developed areas. The hills directly behind DB reach up to, and the hiking trails that traverse all the peaks on Lantau Island are accessible from those hills. The hills of Lantau tend to fall dramatically into jungle-covered valleys that spread up into verdant, grass-covered hills. DB has a series of rock pools which lead to one such valley and into a man-made addition to the water-drainage system.

Environment

DB is home to animals of many kinds, most of which are domestic pets. There are, however, a number of wild species that lived or are living on Lantau Island that can be found in and around DB. Most of these creatures are birds such as finches, tits, gulls and kites. Until the construction of the new Hong Kong International Airport in Chek Lap Kok, wild cattle and water buffalo thrived in the pasture-like hills. Increasingly vigorous development all over Hong Kong has reduced the habitat of the local dolphin and whale populations. The most famous of these is the Chinese white dolphin, often called the pink dolphin due to a slight pinkish cast to their skin.

Climate

Discovery Bay has a sub-tropical climate characterised by distinct seasons. Summers are usually from June to August, with temperatures often within the mid 20s to low 30s Celsius range. Winters start in December and run till February, with temperatures ranging from teens to low 20s Celsius.
As DB is a coastal region, typhoon season provides a more intense weather experience for residents. Severe tropical storms tend to only occur later in the season, typically August and September. These storms bring torrential rain and strong winds to the region, sometimes leading to a temporary suspension of ferry services to the resort town.

Environmental awareness

DB was awarded the Green Property Management Award in 2002. To make DB a greener town, DBSML, the management company of DB, has replaced conventional ballasts with energy-saving tubes. The number of lights in common corridors and main entrances of buildings were re-assessed and unnecessary lights were removed. It was thought that a 30% reduction in electricity charges was achieved in La Vista, one of the villages. Apart from energy reduction, flea market, old books collection, old clothes collection and used household items collection have been held on a regular basis to promote recycling.

Current development

DB was developed in phases and the developer, HKR, envisages that DB will eventually be home to 25,000 residents. The following data applies as of April 2008:

Phase	Date	Development name	Units	High-rise Units	Low-rise Units	Area
Phase 1:	1982	Beach Village, Headland Village & Parkridge Village	504			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 2:	1985 September	Midvale Village	381			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 3:	1986 June	Headland Village, Parkvale Village, Hillgrove Village & Parkridge Village	800			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 4:	1998 June	Peninsula Village	143			Peninsula
Phase 5:	1990 June	Greenvale Village	1,344			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 6:	1991 September	DB Plaza	144			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 7:	1994 September	La Vista & Bijou Hamlet	238			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 8:	1995 May	La Costa	319			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 9:	2000 May	La Serene	181			Tai Pak Wan
Phase 10:	2000 January	Neo Horizon	219			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 11:	2002 February	Siena One	298			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 12:	2003 March	Siena Two	757			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 13:	2007 December	Chianti	520			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 14:	2011 March	AMALFI	164			Yi Pak Wan
Phase 15:	2014	Positano	102			Yi Pak Wan

Transportation

DB is connected the rest of Hong Kong via a road tunnel to the North Lantau Expressway and by a ferry service.
All services accept Hong Kong's Octopus card.

Ferries

There are 3 different ferry routes operating in Discovery Bay:

A day time ferry service plies between DB Pier on Tai Pak Bay and Pier 3 in Central District on Hong Kong Island. Seniors can enjoy the HKD$2 scheme subsidised by the government. Since 2005, ferries have been equipped with free on-board Wi-Fi wireless broadband Internet, which is unique not only in Hong Kong but across Asia.
Kai-to ferries operated by an independent operator link DB to nearby Peng Chau Island and Mui Wo, also on Lantau Island

There are 2 discount package provided by DBTPL. For plan A, there are total 1,550 stored points in transport card for adult at a price of HK$1,310 and 775 for child at a price of HK$655. For plan B, there are 930 stored points in the card for adult and 465 points for child. The prices are HK$858 and HK$429 respectively.
Ferries were the only way to reach Discovery Bay until the opening of the DB Tunnel in 2000 and remain the main way to reach DB from Central. The service is operated by Discovery Bay Transportation Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of HKR. The route between DB and Central is served by monohull and catamaran waterjets manufactured by Marinteknik in Singapore; seating 300 and 500 passengers respectively.