Tai Wai
Tai Wai is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin and the Lion Rock, within the Sha Tin District.
With three rapid transit stations, one of which an interchange station serving two lines, five bus termini and several trunk roads and tunnels connecting it to other parts of the New Territories, such as Tsuen Wan, and Kowloon, Tai Wai is an important transport 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 New 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 towards Tolo Harbour.History
Sprouting from traditional 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 It was originally made up of 16 families, Wai, Chan, Ng, Yeung, Wong, Lee, Hui, Cheng, Tong, Yuen, Yau, Lam, Lok, Tam, Mok and Choy.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, Wai.
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.
Tai Wai appears on the "Map of the San-On District", published in 1866 by Simeone Volonteri.
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 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:| Constituency | Male | Female | Total |
| Chun Fung | 7,131 | 8,135 | 15,266 |
| Sun Tin Wai | 7,507 | 8,621 | 16,128 |
| Chui Tin | 7,166 | 8,078 | 15,244 |
| Hin Ka | 5,736 | 6,458 | 12,194 |
| Lower Shing Mun | 8,614 | 9,520 | 18,134 |
| Wan Shing | 9,799 | 12,470 | 22,269 |
| Keng Hau | 9,548 | 11,397 | 20,945 |
| Tin Sum | 7,063 | 7,450 | 14,513 |
| Chui Ka | 7,649 | 8,583 | 16,232 |
| Tai Wai | 9,139 | 11,127 | 20,266 |
| Chung Tin | 6,649 | 8,115 | 14,764 |
| Total | 86,001 | 99,954 | 185,955 |
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.| Name | Type | Inaug. | No Blocks | No Units | Notes | |
| Carado Garden | PSPS | 1990 | 6 | 1,988 | ||
| Chun Shek Estate | Public | 1984 | 4 | 2,166 | ||
| Fung Shing Court | HOS | 1985 | 3 | 2,448 | ||
| Grandway Garden | PSPS | 1989 | 3 | 864 | ||
| Hin Keng Estate | TPS | 1986 | 8 | 1,004 | ||
| Hin Yiu Estate | Public | 2005 | 1 | 799 | ||
| Holford Garden | PSPS | 1985 | 3 | 800 | ||
| Ka Keng Court | HOS | 2002 | 2 | 640 | ||
| Ka Tin Court | HOS | 1988 | 6 | 1,680 | ||
| King Tin Court | HOS | 1983 | 6 | 1,424 | ||
| Lung Hang Estate | Public | 1983 | 6 | 4,376 | ||
| May Shing Court | HOS | 1982 | 3 | 2,192 | ||
| Mei Chung Court | HOS | 1996 | 6 | 1,940 | ||
| Mei Lam Estate | Public | 1981 | 4 | 4,156 | ||
| Mei Tin Estate | Public | 2006 | 4 | 3,164 | ||
| Sun Chui Estate | Public | 1983 | 8 | 6,692 | ||
| Sun Tin Wai Estate | Public | 1981 | 8 | 3,430 |
Private housing estates
Festival City
is a HK$20 billion residential 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
Other private housing estates in Tai Wai include:- Glamour Garden
- Golden Lion Gardens
- Grandeur Garden
- Granville Garden
- Greenview Garden
- Julimount Garden
- Lakeview Garden
- Man Lai Court
- Parc Royale
- Park View Garden
- Peak One
- Pristine Villa
- Sha Tin Heights
- The Great Hill
- The Met. Acappella
- The Pavilia Farm
- Worldwide Gardens
Villages
- Tai Wai Village, aka. Chik Chuen Wai. It is located next to Tai Wai station and the main commercial streets of the area. The village was walled to protect the villagers from bandits, pirates and/or unfriendly neighbours. It was rectangular in shape with 4 watch towers at its four corners. The towers and the walls have long been demolished leaving only the entrance gate and part of the front wall. The houses inside the walls are in rows, and many houses have been built outside the walls due to later development. Historic and traditional buildings include the Entrance Gate, a Hau Wong Temple, the Wai Ancestral Hall and several old houses.
- Tai Wai New Village is located on a slope alongside Tai Po Road, just minutes walk away from the old village. It was established in the 1980s as the then colonial government's effort to compensate the villagers for effectively confiscating their land for development. Each male villager was given a piece of land at a premium of HK$20,000 of which he has the right to build a Spanish-styled 700 sq.ft. three-story house to live in. Most of these houses are now rented by outsiders for the relatively tranquil countryside surroundings. The land occupied by the village was once cultivated for pineapples.
- Ha Keng Hau is located east of Hin Keng Estate and west of Lung Hang Estate. It was established by the Law and the Mak during the 18th century. The Mak who settled there had branched out of Pan Chung in Tai Po.
- Sheung Keng Hau is located southeast of Hin Keng Estate. It is a single-surname village, Wai, with a history of over 300 years. The Wai Ancestral Hall was rebuilt in 1930.
- Hin Tin is located south of the main part of Hin Keng Estate. The village was erected with government funding in the 1920s to resettle three clans of villagers from Shek Lei Pui Valley, to make way for the construction of the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir, completed in 1925. Some 80 people lived in 26 houses in the former Shek Lei Pui Village. The Yeung, the Law and the So were Hakkas from Nantou who had settled in the Valley for some 300 years. Another clan in the Valley, the Lau, moved to Kwai Chung instead of Hin Tin at the resettlement. The ancestral halls of the three clans were built in Hin Tin, connected together to form a single block on the front row of the original three rows of houses. They have been listed as Grade III historic buildings since 2010. In 1982, the Housing Department demolished 600 structures at Hin Tin and relocated 167 families.
- Kak Tin is located south of Sun Chui Estate and Sun Tin Wai Estate. It was one of the five Punti villages in Sha Tin founded about 400 years ago by Tsang clanspeople, originally from Shandong. The villagers were historically farmers engaged in rice and vegetable growing supported by pig and poultry rearing. The village had a population of 130 in 1899 and 220 in 1960. About 80 households of the Tsangs are still residing in the village. Most of the village houses have been demolished and replaced by modern small houses.
- Hung Mui Kuk Village
- San Tin Village, is located south of Che Kung Temple and east of Sun Chui Estate. It was historically a single-clan village of the Lau, and it now features the Lau Ancestral Hall. The Lau were Hakkas who first moved from Huizhou to Grassy Hill, northwest of Sha Tin, during the 18th century. They were farmers engaged in cultivation. As their population increased, they bought a piece of land from the Kak Tin and Tin Sam villages and established a new village called 'San Tin' in the late 1890s.
- Lei Uk Tsuen is located east of Che Kung Temple and west of Chun Shek Estate. It was established by the Lei clan in the late 17th century.
- Sha Tin Tau is located east of Chun Shek Estate, north of Fung Shing Court and south of Tsang Tai Uk. Historically the only Hakka multi-surname village in the Sha Tin area, it was first settled by the Chan and later by the Law, the Lam, the Yip, the Lau and others. There are several ancestral halls in the village, including the Lau Ancestral Hall, that was built before 1900. The founding ancestor of the Lau clan of Sha Tin Tau village moved from Longchuan in the mid-19th century. The clan has lived there for nine generations by the early 21st century.
- Sha Tin Tau New Village
- Heung Fan Liu New Village is located near the Tai Wai Nullah, north of Mei Tin Estate and east of the Lower Shing Mun Reservoir.
- Luk Hop Village is located on the hill along Tai Po Road and on top of Sha Tin Heights Tunnel.
- Fuk Lok Village is located on the hill, north of Heung Fan Liu New Village and Pak Tin.
- Pak Tin is located west of Mei Chung Court. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Pak Tin was 3.
- Tin Sam Village is located west of Sun Chui Estate, north of Lung Hang Estate, and southeast of Festival City. It was a Punti walled village, historically inhabited by the Choi, the Wai, the Leung, the Tsang and the Liu. A moat was built for its protection, and was later filled up and used as a fish pond. Historic buildings in the village include the Choi Ancestral Hall, the Leung Ancestral Halls, the Liu Ancestral Hall, and the Entrance Gate, built during the Qing dynasty. The Che Kung Temple in Tai Wai was originally built and managed by the Tin Sam Village, but the village lost its managerial rights in the late 19th century.
- Tung Lo Wan is located east of Mei Lam Estate, across the Tai Wai Nullah. It was historically a Hakka village occupied by families of different surnames, the Yau being the majority. The first generation of the Tse clan who settled in the village moved to Tung Lo Wan in the early 20th century. The Tse Ancestral Hall, also called Tse Po Shu Tong, was built before 1910. It is the only ancestral hall in the village. The Li Cottage, located nearby, at the corner of Tung Lo Wan Hill Road and Chung Ling Road, was built around 1918. It is connected by a path to the Li Tomb uphill.
- Yau Oi Tsuen , located west of Tao Fung Shan.