Kwai Tsing District (葵青區) is located in Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi in the New Territories, and has a total land area of about 2,350 hectares[1] and is one of the 18 districts in Hong Kong. It is part of the New Territories South-West Constituency of the Legislative Council.
History[]
In 1981, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi were part of the Tsuen Wan District. Due to the rapid development of the three districts, the Government established the "Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi District" on 1 April 1985 to administer Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi independently, and then simplified the name to "Kwai Tsing District" three years later, making it the youngest district in Hong Kong.
Kwai Chung began to develop in the 1960s, and the Kwai Chung Resettlement Area (the predecessor of Kwai Chung Estate) was completed in 1964 and 1965. In the late 1960s, the Government decided to build a container terminal at the Rambler Channel shoreline off Lai King, and Kwai Chung Road was completed as a result. Since the 1970s, Kwai Chung has gradually become a major industrial centre, clustered around Kwai Fuk Road, Tai Lin Pai Road and Lei Muk Road, with public and private residential areas mainly located to the west of Kwai Chung Road, in Kam Shan (Shek Lei Estate), Lai King Hill and other areas.
Tsing Yi, which originally consisted of Tsing Yi Island and Nga Ying Chau, was planned as a new town extension in the early 1970s. The Tsing Yi Bridge was officially opened to traffic in 1974, and the first public housing estate, Cheung Ching Estate, was officially occupied in 1977. In order to build more housing, the Government filled in Tsing Yi Bay in the early 1980s and constructed the Tsing Tsuen Bridge (also known as the Tsing Yi North Bridge), which was opened to the public in 1987, making it more convenient for residents to travel between Tsing Yi and Tsuen Wan.
With the development of the freight industry, the Container Terminals have been expanding, and since the mid-1990s, they have been extended to Stonecutters Island and southeast Tsing Yi, making the Kwai Tsing area a hub for the logistics industry. Due to the expansion of container terminals, the original Tsing Yi Bridge became overloaded and the Government built a four-lane dual carriageway Kwai Tsing Bridge to the south of the Tsing Yi Bridge, which was opened to traffic in 1999.
Kwai Tsing is also one of the landing points of Route 3. The Tsing Kwai Highway, Cheung Tsing Tunnel and Cheung Tsing Highway connecting to the Lantau Link were opened to traffic in 1997, while Route 3 was opened to traffic in 1998. Now that Route 8 has been extended to Sha Tin and Tai Wai, and with the opening of the Stonecutters Bridge and the Nam Wan Tunnel in late 2009, travelling between Sha Tin and West Kowloon and the Airport has become even more convenient.
All four Hong Kong franchised bus companies operate routes to this district[2], making it the administrative district with the highest number of concurrent Hong Kong franchised bus routes, together with Yuen Long. In addition, together with CMB and NWFB whose franchises have ended, all six franchised bus companies (have) served this district, making it the administrative district with the highest number of Hong Kong franchised bus companies on record.
Street/road structure[]
Kwai Tsing District is divided into two major parts, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi. The major trunk roads in Kwai Chung are Kwai Chung Road and Castle Peak Road - Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan Road, which, after the full opening of the road in 1986, has provided a quicker way for Kowloon to travel to Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun districts, and Wo Yi Hop Road, which, after the commissioning of the Shing Mun Tunnels in 1990, has become the main access road from Kwai Chung to and from Sha Tin districts. Residential areas in Kwai Chung are scattered in different districts and the streets are well separated, with bus stops located in different streets.
Streets in Tsing Yi are mainly concentrated on the east coast of Tsing Yi and residential areas, while the south, west and north coasts are dominated by shipyards, oil depots and factories, with fewer streets. Tsing Yi residents travelling to and from the urban area mainly rely on three flyovers - Tsing Yi Bridge, Tsing Tsuen Bridge and Kwai Tsing Bridge, with Tsing Yi Bridge and Kwai Tsing Bridge connecting Cheung Tsing Estate and Kwai Chung Container Terminals, and Tsing Tsuen Bridge serving as a link between Cheung On Estate and Texaco Road.
The construction of Route 3 commenced in the 1990s. The toll-free tunnel, Cheung Tsing Tunnel, runs across Tsing Yi and passes through the southern end of the Tsing Yi Industrial Area and Sai Tso Wan in Tsing Yi West. Passengers travelling from Kowloon can take buses via Cheung Tsing Tunnel to reach the airport and Tung Chung New Town, while those from Tuen Mun and Yuen Long Districts can take buses via the Ting Kau Bridge to access West Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, and those travelling from Tsuen Wan or Kwai Chung can access the Lantau Island via the Tsing Yi West Road or the Tsing Yi North Coastal Road, which was opened to traffic in 2002. Route 8 (Tsing Yi - Cheung Sha Wan section) was constructed in the southern part of Tsing Yi away from residential areas, and the Nam Wan Tunnel and Stonecutters Bridge were commissioned on 20 December 2009.
Areas and termini[]
Template:List of Kwai Tsing District Bus Termini
Kwai Chung[]
See article "Kwai Chung" for details.
Tsing Yi[]
See article "Tsing Yi" for details.
Bus routes[]
| Bus routes terminating or turning back in Kwai Tsing District (shown below are destination districts) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK Island |
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| Kowloon |
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| New Territories East |
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| New Territories West |
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| Italic: Specific service hours/part-time route; →: Outbound service only; ←: Inbound service only | |||||||||||||||||||
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Kwai Tsing District Council meeting, 10 May 2018.
- ↑ NLB Route 1R passes through this district without a stop.
External Links[]
- Official Website of the District Council: Kwai Tsing District Highlights
- 2019 District Council Constituency Map: Kwai Tsing District
- 2007 District Council Constituency Map: Kwai Tsing District
Template:Administrative Districts
Kwai Tsing District Council, Kwai Tsing and Wo Yi Hop