Sha Tau Kok () is a closed town in North District, Hong Kong. It is the last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area and is Hong Kong's northernmost town. Its residents are mostly descendants of Hakka farmers and Hoklo fishermen who settled the area as a consequence of the Qing dynasty's "Great Clearance" in the 17th century.
The town can be accessed via Sha Tau Kok Road and public transit beginning in Sheung Shui. However, visitors who do not possess a valid Closed Area Permit and identification are turned away at the police checkpoint guarding the entrance to the town. There are additional restrictions on access to Chung Ying Street, which separates the Hong Kong portion of Sha Tau Kok from the mainland Chinese portion in Shenzhen (Shatoujiao Subdistrict). Although the Hong Kong government now promotes tourism in the historically isolated town, Chung Ying Street remains closed off to most outsiders, including Hong Kong residents without permits.
Etymology
The English name Sha Tau Kok is transliterated from the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese name , which first appeared in the genealogy of the Ng () Hakka clan of Sha Lan Ha () in 1863. The Ngs of Sha Lan Ha wrote that Sha Tau Kok was originally the name of the bay."Heritage Appraisal of Hip Tin Temple – Shan Tsui, Sha Tau Kok, the New Territories", Antiquities and Monuments Office, Hong Kong. Italian Catholic missionary Simeone Volonteri labelled the northwestern part of Mirs Bay as Sha Tau Kok in his 1866 map of Sun On District. Sathewkoka transliteration from Hakka Chineseis sometimes used in English works relating to the Hakka people.
According to local legend, the name Sha Tau Kok is derived from a poem written by Qing officials when they inspected the area: "The sun rises from (Sha Tau), the moon hangs above (Kok)" (). The poem is written in red traditional Chinese characters on a stone tablet at the Cape of Sha Tau Kok, the town's easternmost point.
History
Prehistory Stone tools such as hammers, pounders, axes, and adzes dating to the Neolithic period were excavated from San Tsuen, Sha Tau Kok, in 2001. Pottery dating to the Han dynasty was also found there.
17th–18th century Not much is known about settlements in the area before the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The provincial imperial government expressed interest in the Mirs Bay area because of its salt flats and pearl beds, in the 5th century and 8th century, respectively.HASE, P. H. “EASTERN PEACE: SHA TAU KOK MARKET IN 1925.” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 33, 1993, pp. 147–202. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23890097. Accessed 8 October 2024.
The "Great Clearance" of the 17th century expelled most of the area's original settlers, who immigrated to locations such as present-day Yuen Long and Shenzhen. At the same time, the first Hakka settlers of Sha Tau Kok arrived to settle the northern shoreline of Mirs Bay, with more Hakka villages being established in the 18th century.“EASTERN PEACE: SHA TAU KOK MARKET IN 1925.” p. 149.
19th century The Sam Heung village alliance () occupied the original shoreline of Sha Tau Kok, which was called Tai Tan Tung (). The three villages included Shan Tsui, Tong To, and Tam Shui Hang.
During the early 1800s, five wealthy villagesShan Tsui, Tam Shui Hang, Wo Hang, Nam Chung, and Luk Kenginvested in the reclamation of Sha Tau Kok to provide more farmland for the growing population.
Around the 1830s, leaders from 10 or so villages formed an alliance called the Shap Yeuk () to establish a new market at the newly reclaimed Sha Lan Ha, that would allow the Sha Tau Kok area to operate independently from older markets in Shenzhen. The market was later named Tung Wo Market () and described in 1848 by Basel missionary Theodore Hamberg as "a great market, quite given over to trade, newly built, and bustling with business"."Jahresberichte der Easier Mission 1849", pp 141–143. Reprinted in: Hase, P. H. “SHA TAU KOK IN 1853.” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 30, 1990, pp. 281–97. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23889758. Accessed 7 October 2024. In the 1850s there were approximately 50 shops.
As a result of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Sha Tau Kok was leased to the British in 1898. Within the lease, Tung Wo Market was not included, leading to the problem of shopkeepers in Tung Wo being cut off from their ancestral villages in Hong Kong. On 19 April 1899, the elders of Shap Yeuk petitioned the district magistrate and begged that the lease not go forward, fearing excessive taxation and practical problems if they lived in British territory while their market was in Chinese territory. This petition failed to change the lease, leading to a host of problems in the 20th century which led to the decline of Tung Wo Market.
20th century At the time of the 1911 government census, the population of Sha Tau Kok District was 8,570, while the population of Sha Tau Kok Village (British territory) was 14. The census recorded that, at home, 95.5% of the population spoke Hakka, 4.0% Cantonese ("Punti"), and 0.5% Hoklo (Hokkien).The exact boundary of Sha Tau Kok District and Sha Tau Kok village during the 1911 census is unknown. However, the modern district encompasses 46 villages under the List Of Recognised Villages Under The Small House Policy.
The present-day area of Sha Tau Kok Chuen and Yim Liu Ha was at that time covered with marshes and salt fields. A sizeable Hoklo population worked at those salt fields; they were the largest community of Hoklo speakers in the North District. The total population of Sha Tau Kok District was 8,357 in 1921, growing to 8,941 in 1931."Report On The Census Of The Colony Of Hong Kong, 1931. ", Hong Kong Government. p. 105.As defined by the area of Sha Tau Kok Police District During the 1920s, there were around a hundred shops in Tung Wo Market, with some moving across the border to San Lau Street.
Battle of Hong Kong and Japanese occupation During the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, a regiment of Japanese troops entered Hong Kong through Sha Tau Kok. The Sha Tau Kok Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, originally built in 1930 as a residence, was converted to a museum for "patriotic education."
1967 Hong Kong riots On 8 July 1967, amid the 1967 Hong Kong riots, several hundred demonstrators from the People's Republic of China (mainland China), including members of the People's Militia, crossed the border at Sha Tau Kok and attacked the police post there. The police attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas and wooden bullets. They then came under fire from several points, including automatic fire from Chinese territory, prompting an exchange of gunfire. Five police officers were killed and eleven were injured. Gunfire stopped with the arrival of a battalion from the British garrison.
21st century
In 2022, the Hong Kong government announced a pilot scheme in which limited areas of the town would be opened to tourists. The following year, the government announced it was working on a feasibility study to redevelop the town's border control point with mainland China.
, a daily quota of 2,300 individual visitors and 700 group visitors are permitted to visit Sha Tau Kok on weekends and holidays, with no limits on weekdays. Visitors must possess a Tourism Closed Area Permit, and individual travellers are only allowed to enter the area by public transport. Although tourists can visit most parts of Sha Tau Kok, Chung Ying Street remains off limits. Although some residents are supportive of the opening up, the move has also led to concern from some residents that tourists might affect the historically closed community.
Geography Located within the Mirs Bay area, Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern shoreline of Starling Inlet, 10 km northeast of Fanling. The town centre is by the sea and the northern part of the town encompasses the hill known as Yuen Tuen Shan ().
The Cape of Sha Tau Kok () is the easternmost point of Sha Tau Kok. It is the location of a sign and stone stone tablet; the sign displays the cape's coordinates, while the Chinese text on the tablet is a poem which translates to "The sun rises from (Sha Tau), the moon hangs above (Kok)" ().
A section of Starling Inlet located offshore of Sha Tau Kok is one of the 26 designated marine fish culture zones in Hong Kong.
Border with mainland China
Sha Tau Kok Control Point is one of Hong Kong's border crossings along the geographical land border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The others are Man Kam To Control Point, Lo Wu Control Point, Lok Ma Chau Control Point, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point, Heung Yuen Wai Control Point and Shenzhen Bay Control Point.
Sha Tau Kok is bordered by the Shatoujiao Subdistrict of Shenzhen; is the pinyin romanisation of , while is the Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation. A border wall separates what was formerly one town, with Chung Ying Street being the only unwalled section of the Sha Tau Kok–Shatoujiao border. Before the implementation of the "open door" policy in the 1980s, both sides exercised strict control over cross-boundary activities on the street. Even in the present day, non-residents must have a permit to visit Chung Ying Street.
After the "open door" policy was put in place to allow freer travel between the two sides, mainland Chinese travellers flocked to Chung Ying Street to purchase goods unavailable in mainland China for personal use. However, it simultaneously became a notorious point of goods trafficking, attracting businessmen and unemployed individuals looking to capitalise on the market opportunities created by the policy. Hawking and touting, smuggling, unlawful import and export of goods, and illegal employment became prominent on Chung Ying Street.
Traffickers would enter Chung Ying Street with visitor permits, some making several trips a day acquiring goods and abusing the custom tariff limits on goods such as baby formula, soaps, electronics, and fabrics. These traffickers would then unload their burden to collect their pay inside Shatoujiao, or sell further inland in the mainland for greater profits. Although there are a lot of goods leaving Hong Kong from Sha Tau Kok via Chung Ying Street, there is also an inflow of foodstuffs and other commodities that come through from China into Hong Kong throughout the day, only limited by the closure of the Chinese customs post.
A variety of items have been smuggled through the border. In 1996, 2,511 kilograms of raw uninspected meat was seized in a single case. In 1997, counterfeit trademarked clothes and imported garments without licence valued at over $4.5 million were seized. Live chickens, pirated CDs, animal products of protected species as pangolins, owls, eagles and tigers have also been seized. Attempted drugs trafficking is common to the present day, with cocaine, methamphetamine, and cannabis being intercepted at the Sha Tau Kok border. Illegally imported pet animals such as cats and dogs, are also common.