Sha Tau Kok

:"See Shatoujiao for an area of Shenzhen(Sham Chun/Chim Tsoon/Sem Tsun), Guangdong, China neighbouring Sha Tau Kok."

Sha Tau Kok or Shataukok or Sathewkok (zh-t|t=沙頭角) is a town in the northeastern corner of Hong Kong. Located on the border with mainland China, there is another town of same Chinese name, Shatoujiao, romanized using pinyin, across Shum Chun River-defined border in Shenzhen.

Geography

The rural town Sha Tau Kok is located besides Starling Inlet, within the Closed Area. The town centre is closer to the sea and north of town is a hill of Yuen Tuen Shan (元墩山). The control point of the access to Shenzhen is located northwest of the hill in Shan Tsui (山咀).

Closed Area

Today, the Hong Kong-controlled Sha Tau Kok is a quiet rural town, part of North District and lies within the Closed Area. It has a post office, a bank, a few shops and a small population. Most of the residents are from Hakka farming or Hoklo (Hokkien) fishing backgrounds. Both farming and fishing have declined in the last few decades, with the younger better educated generation of people being more affluent as they have moved to live and work in more urban areas. The older generations, however, carry on living in some of the villages and government housing complexes in Sha Tau Kok, but during weekends, festivals and holidays, working families return to their villages and roots to spend time with them. The Hong Kong portion of Sha Tau Kok is within the Closed Area and access is limited.

Border

Sha Tau Kok is one of the three road connections between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the other two being Man Kam To and Lok Ma Chau.

Chung Ying Street lies on the border between China and Hong Kong. Currently, it may be perceived as a popular place for goods trafficking without getting through custom checks. There are a lot of goods leaving Hong Kong via Sha Tau Kok which goes into Chung Ying Street and eventually end up inside China. Likewise, foodstuffs come through from China into Hong Kong all day through, only limited by the closure of the Chinese custom post.

An influx of mainland workers flow into Chung Ying Street from 7am when the custom post is opened. Residents from the Chung Ying Street area are free to pass in and out of the Chinese border post, because they have residency passes. Other non-residents must be issued with permits to enter from the Chinese authorities. Tourists are also found visiting Chung Ying Street to buy Western products from Hong Kong first hand, and prices may be higher than within China, but equivalent products found within China are suspected by mainland residents as not being wholly genuine.

It is now possible to travel conveniently into mainland Shatoujiao via the Sha Tau Kok border crossing. Coaches run a regular schedule from Luen Wo Market (聯和墟) (a small town near Fanling, in the New Territories) bus station, situated near the recently opened Luen Wo Market and Library complex, and from Fanling train station also. Tickets currently (2005) cost HK$20 for each passenger. The coaches also provide space for luggage. Travellers are taken through the Shek Chung Au (石湧凹) border check point without permit search, and are driven directly to the Sha Tau Kok Immigration checkpoint.

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 should hold Home Visit Permits (回鄉證) (HuiXiang Zheng) for entry into China.

On the 27 January 2005, it was announced that street maps for tourists were put up around Shatoujiao, in order to aid tourists' navigation.In fact, the mainland government has striked to promote Sha Tau Kok.A museum introducing the Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong is built attracting tourist who wanted to know the history.

Transport

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 here. Sha Tau Kok Railway was built from the original narrow gauge of the KCR British Section, which was replaced by standard gauge. Since that time, the area in which the terminus occupied is still called the "train station" or fo cha teu in the local dialects (火車頭 huochetou). Currently, both double decker and minibus services are available in the Shatoukok area. There are a few shops nearby, and the government public housing project.

ee also

* List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
* List of villages in Hong Kong
* Kuk Po
* Lai Chi Wo

External links

* [http://www.singpao.com/20050503/local/707982.html A report of Sha Tau Kok on Sing Pao newspaper]
* [http://www.hk-place.com/view.php?id=129 Details of Sha Tau Kok from HK-place.com]
* [http://www.hk-place.com/view.php?id=130 Details of the rural area of Sha Tau Kok from HK-place.com]