San Po Kong () is an area in

New Kowloon New Kowloon is an area in Hong Kong, bounded to the south by Boundary Street, and to the north by the ranges of the Eagle's Nest, Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak. It covers the present-day Kwun Tong District and Wong ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It is largely industrial and partly residential. Administratively, it belongs to

Wong Tai Sin District Wong Tai Sin District is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the only landlocked district in Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon, and is the northernmost district in Kowloon. It borders the districts of Kwun Ton ...

Location

San Po Kong is located south of

Wong Tai Sin Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 328 ...

and

Diamond Hill Diamond Hill is a hill in the east of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The name also refers to the area on or adjacent to the hill. It is surrounded by Ngau Chi Wan, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan. Its northeast is limited by the ridge. It is ...

, north of the former

Kai Tak International Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...

and west of Ngau Chai Wan. The area is bounded by Choi Hung Road and Prince Edward Road East.

History

Village

San Po Kong was a new village replacing the old Po Kong Village that was destroyed by the Japanese in 1943. The original village consisted of terraced housing and a small forested area along a hill. The hill was partially levelled by the Japanese during the extension of the runway at Kai Tak during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Today the old village hill is now site of the Choi Hung Road Playground. Reminders of the old village lives on with street names and a park (Po Kong Village Road, Po Kong Village Road Park). The current San Po Kong is a post-War residential scheme with mostly public housing blocks.

Airport

In 1916, the area south of present-day San Po Kong was reclaimed by Ho Kai and Au Tak for a garden estate. The reclamation was completed in two phases in 1920 and 1927. The reclaimed area became known as Kai Tak Bund. The company lacked the capital to complete the project and left part the land unused. The

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

decided to buy back the land for the Royal Air Force and a future Kai Tak Aerodrome. In the late 1930s, the airport was significantly expanded to take up the whole of San Po Kong. Clear Water Bay Road, part of the current Choi Hung Road, and a nullah were constructed around the airport. During the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

, more than 20 villages surrounding San Po Kong were demolished for further expansion of the airport. Part of the previous runway was converted into Tseuk Luk Street in the area, which was deliberately named with a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

on the word "

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...

" in Cantonese.

Industrial area

In 1958, the airport was shifted south, out of San Po Kong and into

Kowloon Bay Kowloon Bay (Chinese: 九龍灣) is a bay within Victoria Harbour and a neighbourhood within Kowloon, Hong Kong. The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victor ...

. Prince Edward Road East was completed at around this time. San Po Kong became an industrial area, in many high-rise buildings. The government also established the San Po Kong Factory Estate, a factory estate for small manufacturing businesses in the early 1960s.Heritage Impact Assessment on Chai Wan Factory Estate

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an government agency, agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the R ...

, April 2013. p.78 In May 1967, a labour dispute in a factory making artificial flowers ignited the

1967 riots 1967 riots may refer to: * Long, hot summer of 1967, marked by race riots and civil disorder throughout the United States ** 1967 riots in Avondale, Cincinnati, June 12–18, Cincinnati, Ohio ** 1967 Buffalo riot, June 27–July 1, Buffalo, New Yo ...

, which lasted until October. During that period, public bus services were suspended, forcing workers from other areas to commute on foot. In the 1980s, many of the manufacturing businesses in San Po Kong relocated to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and the industrial buildings were turned into offices and godowns.

Features

Facilities in San Po Kong include: * Mikiki, a shopping mall * Choi Hung Road Playground * Rhythm Garden, a housing estate *

Ho Lap College Ho Lap College (HLC; ) is a grant-aided co-educational EMI school in San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Founded in 1992 History Ho Lap College is the first government-aided secondary school sponsored by the Sik Sik Yuen. Its his ...

* Ng Wah Catholic Secondary School

Transport

San Po Kong is served by Wong Tai Sin station, Diamond Hill station and Kai Tak station of the

MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...

Education

San Po Kong is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 43. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Wong Tai Sin Government Primary School.

References

External links

Working Paper No. 33. Regeneration of Industrial Areas in Metro Area - A Hypothetical Case Study at San Po Kong
Planning Department, November 2003 {{Coord, 22.33547, 114.19837, display=title Areas of Hong Kong Chuk Yuen Wong Tai Sin District