Yuen Long District (元朗區), one of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, is located in the northwestern part of the New Territories. It has a vast area covering Ping Shan Heung, Ha Tsuen Heung, Kam Tin Heung, Pat Heung, San Tin Heung, Shap Pat Heung, and Yuen Long New Town and Tin Shui Wai New Town, with a total area of 14,430 hectares, and a population of about 540,000 people, of which about 140,000 are living in Yuen Long Town, 130,000 in the six Heungs (townships), 270,000 in Tin Shui Wai, and about 1.5 million in Yuen Long Town and Tin Shui Wai. The population is about 540 000, of which about 140 000 live in Yuen Long Town, 130 000 in Luk Heung and 270 000 in Tin Shui Wai. Among the 10 geographical constituencies for the Legislative Council geographical constituency election, Yuen Long belongs to the New Territories North West[1] and New Territories North Constituency[2].
Due to its long history, Yuen Long is rich in cultural heritage and many traditional customs and rituals are still practised by its residents, making it a diversified community where the old and the new are blended together with the rural and urban areas.
History[]
Yuen Long is located in the north-west of Hong Kong, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on the other, with a flat terrain in the centre, making it a rare plain in Hong Kong. In ancient times, Yuen Long was called "圓塱" in Chinese, "Yuen" (圓) meaning complete and abundant, and "Long" (塱) referring to the low-lying area by the river or lake. In other words, Yuen Long has been a low-lying area surrounded by mountains and abundant water supply for a long time.
The historical origin of Yuen Long can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty (214 BC). During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (1661), the Qing government issued a sea ban, ordering the residents of the southeastern coast to move inland for 50 miles to cut off support for the anti-Qing forces, and the ban was not withdrawn until the Kangxi period (1669). At the time of the resumption of the border, most of the original villagers of Yuen Long had been dispersed, resulting in wasteland everywhere. The Qing government encouraged the villagers from the Mainland to settle in the New Territories and revive their industries. As a result, a large number of Hakka villagers came south from various places and lived in different parts of Yuen Long, forming villages.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Government signed the Treaty on the Expansion of the Boundary of Hong Kong with the United Kingdom, under which the south of the Shenzhen River, the north of Boundary Street in Kowloon and more than 200 islands were leased to the United Kingdom for 99 years, and when the United Kingdom took over the New Territories in 1899, the villagers, believing that their land would be seized, rose up in revolt and fought against the British army, starting from Lam Tsuen and ending at Pat Heung, and the situation was eventually settled.
Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai New Town[]
In the 1970s of the last century, the Hong Kong Government was keen to develop the New Territories and open up new towns. Yuen Long also entered the process of urbanisation and Tin Shui Wai was selected for development into a new town in 1982 to cope with the population growth. Large-scale housing estates have been built in the two new towns, which are densely populated, and the Tung Tau Industrial Area and Yuen Long Industrial Estate provide employment opportunities for local residents.
The Light Rail Transit (LRT) linking Yuen Long and Tuen Mun new towns was opened in 1988 and has since been expanded with the opening of the Tin Shui Wai Extension in 1993. Ten years later, the Tin Shui Wai Reserve Area Extension and the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) West Rail commenced operation at the end of 2003, providing more convenient public transport services for local residents.
With the completion of the Tai Lam Tunnel in 1998, the external bus services between Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai were freed from the congestion of Tuen Mun Road, and the network of routes is now well connected. In October 2005, all routes in Yuen Long were cooled down, making it the first administrative district outside Hong Kong Island to provide fully air-conditioned bus services. As at May 2013, there are 57 franchised bus routes and 41 green minibus routes in Yuen Long, most of which have an average occupancy rate ranging from about 30% to 70% during peak hours. There are some routes with higher demand, with an average occupancy rate of more than 80% during peak hours, and a few green minibus routes are fully occupied. [3]
Bus routes[]
Template:List of Yuen Long District Bus Routes
Bus termini[]
Template:List of Yuen Long District Bus Termini
Street/road structure[]
Castle Peak Road is a major trunk road with the longest history in Yuen Long. The sections in the district include Hung Shui Kiu, Ping Shan, Yuen Long, Tam Mi, Mai Po, San Tin and Chau Tau, of which the Yuen Long Town section is also known as "Yuen Long Main Road" (元朗大馬路). Yuen Long On Ning Road, Yuen Long On Lok Road, Kau Yuk Road, Ma Tong Road and Shap Pat Heung Road are major local distributor roads, while Long Tin Road and Long Ping Road connect to the surrounding areas of Yuen Long New Town.
Rural streets in Yuen Long are mainly village lanes. Streets such as Ping Ha Road, Lau Fau Shan Road, Kam Sheung Road, Tai Tong Road, etc. still largely retain their rural appearance. Kam Tin Road, Fan Kam Road, Lam Kam Road and Route Twisk connect the rural areas of North District, Tai Po and Tsuen Wan on the axis of Kam Tin and Sheung Tsuen. The Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange is located between San Tin and Lok Ma Chau, with a 24-hour service provided by the Royal Bus shuttle service to the Huanggang Port in Shenzhen.
A number of expressways connecting the urban areas - Yuen Long Highway, San Tin Highway and Route 3 (Country Park Section) - were opened in 1992, 1993 and 1998 respectively to provide easier access. Route 9 comprises Yuen Long Highway and San Tin Highway and connects Yuen Long Town with Tin Shui Wai New Town via Pok Oi Interchange, Shap Pat Heung Interchange, Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange and Tin Shui Wai West Interchange. As for the Tai Lam Tunnel, which is part of Route 3 and a major access point for bus routes to and from the urban areas, KMB offers Interchange concessions for Tai Lam Tunnel bus routes.
Regarding the footpaths in Yuen Long, in the Feasibility Study for the Yuen Long Town Pedestrian Environment Improvement Scheme completed in 2014, the study consultant measured the footpath usage at the junction ofCastle Peak Road - Yuen Long/Tai Tong Road and the pedestrian crossing at Castle Peak Road - Yuen Long/LR Hong Lok Road Stop in 2012, and the figures were 26 and 66 pedestrians per metre per minute respectively. and 66 persons per metre per minute respectively. Regarding improvement measures, Highways Department completed the widening works of the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Castle Peak Road-Yuen Long Section/Light Rail Hong Lok Road Station in early 2013 and proposed to construct an elevated pedestrian corridor on Yuen Long Nullah connecting Long Ping Station of the West Rail Line to Kau Yuk Road to further improve the pedestrian environment. [4]
Elevated pedestrian link to Yuen Long Town at Long Ping Station[]
After years of lengthy public consultation, engineering investigation and design, the Highways Department (HyD) reported to the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Yuen Long District Council (YLDC) on 10 March 2016 on the design of the proposed footbridge, which was supported by the Committee. Earlier on, HyD applied to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for funding of over $1.7 billion for the construction of the footbridge. The estimated construction cost of the project was only $200 million in earlier years, but it has now been substantially increased by eight times. The HyD explained that there are caves in the rock strata under Yuen Long, and the rock strata are as deep as 20 to 100 metres below ground, so the piles have to be driven to a particularly deep level, up to 90 metres below ground, and the foundation cost is therefore 60% higher than that of other projects. Moreover, as the bridge is built along the nullah and surrounded by residential buildings, it is necessary to use a long-span steel structure to avoid affecting the landscape, resulting in a maximum span of 49 metres, which is more difficult than the construction of ordinary bridges.[5]
The elevated walkway is strategically located in Yuen Long Town Centre and will provide an additional and direct north-south route connecting the West Rail Line Long Ping Station to Yuen Long On Ning Road, Castle Peak Road - Yuen Long and Kau Yuk Road area. In addition, the project will construct a total of six pedestrian connection platforms alongside the above three main streets and provide lifts, two-way escalators and staircases at each of the pedestrian connection platforms to link up the elevated walkways with the at-grade footpaths. Upon the commissioning of the elevated walkway, it is estimated that the walking time from Long Ping Station to the south of Education Road can be shortened from 14 minutes via at-grade footpaths to about 8 minutes via the elevated walkway during the peak hours in 2027, which will effectively divert the pedestrian flow from at-grade footpaths and crossing facilities in Yuen Long Town Centre. At the same time, there will be an overall reduction in pedestrian flow on the at-grade sections of the main streets and crossing facilities in the district, thereby relieving congestion, enhancing road safety and improving the pedestrian environment.[6]
Area introduction[]
This entry only sets out the information on the basic areas of Yuen Long, please refer to the relevant articles for details.
| Introduction of areas in Yuen Long District | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Location | Main rpads | Remarks | |
| Yuen Long Town | Central Yuen Long District | Castle Peak Road - Yuen Long | Regional administrative centre | |
| Tin Shui Wai | Northwest Yuen Long District | Long Tin Road, Tin Shui Road, Tin Shing Road | New Town | |
| Hung Shui Kiu | Southwest Yuen Long | Castle Peak Road - Hung Shui Kiu | New Town | |
| Ping Shan | Northern part of Yuen Long, west of Yuen Long Town | Castle Peak Road - Ping Shan, Ping Ha Road, Fuk Hei Street | Subdivided into Ping Shan South and Ping Shan North | |
| Ha Tsuen | Western part of Yuen Long, west of Ping Shan | Ping Ha Road, Tin Ha Road | ||
| Shap Pat Heung | Southern Yuen Long District | Shap Pat Heung Road, Tai Tong Road | Subdivided into Shap Pat Heung South and Shap Pat Heung North | |
| Kam Tin | Eastern Yuen Long District | Kam Tin Road | ||
| Pat Heung | East of Kam Tin | Kam Tin Road, Kam Sheung Road, Tsuen Kam Road, Fan Kam Road | Subdivided into Pat Heung South and Pat Heung North | |
| San Tin | Northeastern Yuen Long District | San Tin Highway, Castle Peak Road - San Tin, San Tam Road | ||
Related Articles[]
- Tuen Mun District
- Tin Shui Wai
- Lok Ma Chau
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Southern part of Yuen Long District (the whole of Yuen Long New Town, part of Ping Shan, the whole of Shap Pat Heung, the whole of Kam Tin and the whole of Pat Heung), including the following District Council Constituency Areas: Fung Nin, Yuen Long Centre, Fung Cheung, Yuen Lung, Shap Pat Heung Central, Shui Pin, Nam Ping, Pak Long, Tung Tau Estate of Yuen Long, Shap Pat Heung North, Shap Pat Heung East, Shap Pat Heung West, Ping Shan South, Hung Fuk, Kam Tin, Pat Heung North, Pat Heung South
- ↑ The northern part of Yuen Long District (all of Tin Shui Wai New Town, part of Ping Shan, all of Ha Tsuen and all of San Tin), including the following District Council Constituency Areas: Ha Tsuen, Ping Shan Central, Shing Yan, Tin Shing, Tin Yiu, Yiu Yau, Tsz Yau, Ka Wu Nam, Shui Oi, Shui Wah, Chung Wah, Chung Pak, Ka Wu Hoi Kei, Yuet Yan, Ching King, Fu Yan, Yat Chak, Tin Heng, Wang Yat, Ping Shan North, Fairview Park and San Tin
- ↑ LCQ21: Planning applications in Yuen Long, 8 May 2013.
- ↑ LCQ8: Crowdedness of footpaths, 28 May 2014.
- ↑ "元朗建天橋17億 飆8倍" (Cost of bridge in Yuen Long $1.7b, rose by 8 times), Oriental Daily News, 28 April 2018.
- ↑ Supplementary information on Yuen Long Town elevated walkway connecting Long Ping StationPublic Works Subcommittee of the Legislative Council, 23 May 2018
External Links[]
- Planning Department: Yuen Long > Historical Background
- Home Affairs Department: Yuen Long District
- Official Website of the District Council: Introduction to Yuen Long District
- 2019 District Council Constituency Map: Yuen Long District
- District Council Constituency Boundary Map 2015
- District Council Constituency Boundary Map 2011
- District Council Constituency Boundary Map 2007
Template:Administrative Districts
Yuen Long District Council, Yuen Long, Yuen Long North, Yuen Long Kau Hui and Yuen Long Old Market