As its chinese name suggests, it was formerly a bay with a long 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 Chueung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok. Sandbar was founded at its estuary.
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.
The bay was reclaimed gradually after World War II. There were many shipyards along the then-reclaimed shore between the 1950s and 1980s, many of which have since relocated to the north shore of Tsing Yi Island.
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 also many wholesale clothes markets in the area.
Events
In April 2006, a total of 580 unused shells left from the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong was found buried at Tonkin Street in Cheung Sha Wan. The residents were temporary evacuated, and the shells were detonated safely.
Reclamation of West Kowloon
The bay of Cheung Sha Wan was reclaimed in several phases in the 20th century. The last reclamation in 1990s extended the area close to Stonecutters Island. The shipping building and repairing industry on the old shore were moved near the island and the sites were replaced by some private housing estates built in the area in the early 2000s.
Housing
Several of the private housing estates were built on a former site of a shipyard which was relocated owning to the commencement of the West Kowloon Reclamation, or reclaimed land adjacent to it.
Aqua Marine.
Aqua Marine (traditional Chinese: ) is a private housing estate developed on the reclaimed land by Hang Lung Properties and Korean-based Hyundai Engineering and Construction. It comprises 5 residential towers and retail podium completed in 2003.
Banyan Garden (Chinese: ) consists of seven towers. Each of the tallest towers (tower 2, 6 and 7) has 57 floors and the roof height is 191 metres (627 feet). They are among the 100 tallest residential buildings in the world since the complex was completed in 2003.
Libert consists of seven residential towers, five of which rank among the 100 tallest buildings in the city. Towers 1, 2 and 3 each rise 181 metres (594 ft), towers 5 and 6 rise 180 metres (591 ft) The complex was completed in 2003.
The Pacifica (traditional Chinese: ) complex consists of approximately 2,000 condominiums in six residential towers, each of which rank among the 70 tallest buildings in the city. The towers, numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, each rise 197 metres (646 ft) and 50-66 floors, Construction began in 2002 and the complex was completed in 2006.
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 was having the most expensive rental fees within the Sham Shui Po District.
For a list of public housing estates in the area, see Public housing estates in Cheung Sha Wan.
Transport
The area is served by two stations on MTR Tsuen Wan Line:
Cheung Sha Wan Station and,
Lai Chi Kok Station.
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.