Tung Chung


Tung Chung is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of Tung Chung River and Ma Wan Chung in the north-western coast of Lantau Island. The area was once an important defence stronghold against pirates and foreign military during the Ming and the Qing dynasties.
Developed as part of the Airport Core Programme, the North Lantau New Town is the first new town on an outlying island of Hong Kong, with the first phases built on reclaimed land to the north, east and northeast of the original Tung Chung Town. Administratively, Tung Chung is part of Islands District.

History

Early times

Since the Song dynasty between 960 and 1279 AD, there have been people living in Tung Chung. At that time, they lived on fishing and agriculture. Crabs, fishes and crops were their main productions.
This place was originally called Tung Sai Chung, when Hong Kong was still a group of fishing villages. Tung means east in Cantonese, while Sai means west. At that time, merchandising ships sailed east to the village and west to Macau.
Tung Sai Chung is one of five villages of Lantau that were resettled when the coastal restriction of the Great Clearance was lifted in 1669. The other villages are Tai O, Lo Pui O, Shek Pik and Mui Wo.
Tung Chung was already seen on Western maps beginning in 1815, sometimes with the romanization Toong-chung.
Tung Chung may be a new town, but its heritage can be seen in the form of old fishing villages. They show another façade of Tung Chung, of a village before the development of the airport and the town.

New town development

In the 1990s, Tung Chung was developed as a new town. This was undertaken as part of the Airport Core Programme, a package of development and infrastructure projects surrounding the relocation of Hong Kong's international airport from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok, adjacent to Tung Chung. Tung Chung New Town was intended to serve as a supporting community for the new airport.
According to the information from the Hong Kong Territory Development Department, Tung Chung is being developed in four phases into a new town with a target population of 250,000 people. The first phase was completed in 1994; infrastructure works was completed in January 1997 in order to tie with the subsequent completion of the first housing developments. This phase of development provided about 20,000 people in the district to support the airport at Chek Lap Kok.
Phase 2 of Tung Chung development was also completed. About 350,000 square metres of land was reclaimed east of the Phase 1 development area. Roads and drainage works to serve this reclaimed land were completed in May 2000. Land formation of 270,000 m2 for the remaining Phase 2 areas south of Tung Chung Bay together with the associated infrastructure were completed in February 2001. Upon completion, Phase 2 development will accommodate a population of 67,000.
Reclamation works under Phase 3A development commenced in March 1999 and were completed in April 2003. About 260,000 m2 of land was reclaimed north-east of Phase I development area. The reclamation will provide land for housing developments to accommodate a population of about 22,000.
The remaining development in Tung Chung is planned to be implemented as Phases 3 and 4 and to be completed in a foreseeable future.
Currently, Tung Chung is primarily residential, but an office block and hotel have already been completed. It is envisaged that in the future, other commercial projects will be developed in Tung Chung to support the growing population.

Housing

Tung Chung New Town is the newly developed core living area around Tung Chung. The development is one of the ten parts of the Hong Kong Airport Core Programme. The first phase of public housing development was completed in late 1997 and can accommodate up to 15,000 people. Another 5,000 people are housed in the private housing development completed in 1998.

Private housing estates

Tung Chung Crescent is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package One together with Seaview Crescent and Citygate. It is the first private residential estate completed in Tung Chung. It is jointly developed by five local developers including Hang Lung Development Co. Ltd., Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd., New World Development Co. Ltd., Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., Swire Properties and with the MTR Corporation.
Seaview Crescent, developed by the same developers as Tung Chung Crescent, consists of four tower blocks in the same style of Tung Chung Crescent, though these face the sea and the airport at Chek Lap Kok.
Coastal Skyline is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package Two. It was jointly developed by HKR International Limited, Hong Leong Holdings Limited and Reco Tung Chung Pte Ltd. and MTR Corporation and consisting of seven residential towers of around 50 stories each, and a number of low-rise flats.
Caribbean Coast is the MTR Tung Chung Station Development Package Three. It was jointly developed by Cheung Kong Limited, Hutchison Whampoa Limited and the MTR Corporation. It is about 67,900 m2 with both residential and commercial buildings.
The Visionary was built by Nan Fung Group, consisting of 9 buildings with 34/35 floors each, 3 duplexes, and 6 houses. It is the first estate to be built on the reclamation land of Tung Chung North-east.
Century Link developed by the Sun Hung Kai Group, consisting of 2 phases and 6 towers with 3 residential blocks. It is the second estate to be built on the reclamation land of Tung Chung North-east after the Visionary.

Public housing estates

Public housing and Home Ownership Scheme flats also make up a sizeable part of Tung Chung. The first phase of public housing development including five homeownership blocks at Yu Tung Court and three public rental housing blocks at Fu Tung Estate comprising 2,640 homeownership and 1,664 rental units.
Yat Tung Estate is a newer integrated development consisting of twenty 40-story tower blocks towards the south of the town center, near the fishing village in Tung Chung Bay, complete with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, shopping mall, car park, and transport interchange.
Ying Tung Estate was built in 2018 near Ying Tung Road, which consists of four blocks: Ying Chui House, Ying Yuet House, Ying Hei House and Ying Fuk House.
In 2025, two new public housing estates, and Chun Tung Estate, were added to Tung Chung’s public housing portfolio. These estates provide additional rental units to accommodate the growing population in the Tung Chung New Town Extension area. According to the Hong Kong Housing Authority, Cheung Tung Estate comprises 4,780 flats across five blocks: Cheung Yat House, Cheung Yuet House, Cheung Sing House, Cheung Fai House, and Cheung Yiu House.

Villages

Villages in the Tung Chung area include:

Tung Chung Fort

was built in 1817, when the Qing Government was alarmed by the rampant piracy of Cheung Po Tsai and decided to intervene and thwart the opium trade and defend the coast from pirates. The Fort was declared a monument in 1979. There are 6 old muzzle-loading cannons, each resting on a cement base and the enclosures are made of granite blocks, measuring 70 by 80 meters. Three arched gateways, each engraved with a Chinese inscription, are spaced along the walls. Tung Chung Fort itself went through several transformations. It was first used as a police station and then as a secondary school. Now, it is the base for the Rural Committee Office and the Tung Chung Public School.

Hau Wong Temple

, a tiered-roof structure built in 1765, is dedicated to Yeung Hau, a loyal court official of the Song dynasty who died with its last emperor. And this temple was a place for training soldiers in the Qing dynasty. There is a stele founded in 1777, which is an important product of culture for researches about the Qing dynasty. Recently renovated, the temple features lavish interior decorations. The temple is over 200 years old. The row of miniature human figures on the eaves looks still very real to life. On the 18th of the eighth month in the lunar calendar every year, there are activities such as Chinese operas and gatherings in the open area of the temple, to celebrate the birthday of Hau Wong.
The temple is twenty minutes walking distance from the train station.

Tin Hau Temple

A Tin Hau Temple is located in Chek Lap Kok New Village, Wong Lung Hang Road, Tung Chung. The temple was initially built in 1823 at the north east of Chek Lap Kok. It was dismantled in 1991 because of the construction of the new airport, and was rebuilt in 1994 at its present location. It is a Grade I historic building.

Tung Chung Battery

was one of the two military forts built in 1817 at the foot of the Rocky Lion Hill at Tung Chung according to the Guangdong Annals. Its remains were discovered on a hill slope facing the sea near Tung Chung pier in 1980. An L-shaped wall with a platform at the corner, probably for gun emplacements, was revealed after clearing the dense undergrowth.

Lo Hon Temple

, at Shek Mun Kap. Built by lay Buddhists in 1974, it occupies the site of a grotto named Lo Hon Cavern where a hermit from Guangdong practiced Buddhism in 1926.

Ngong Ping: Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and Ngong Ping 360

Tung Chung serves as the gateway for those wishing to explore Ngong Ping's Big Buddha, one of the world's largest seated Buddha statues, as well as Po Lin Monastery.
Ngong Ping can be reached by:
  • The Ngong Ping 360 cable car
  • Buses from Tung Chung Town Centre; plying between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping via Tung Chung Road and South Lantau Highway
  • Hiking trail