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Kwun Tong 觀塘 | |
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Neighbourhood | |
 Kwun Tong Town Centre | |
  Kwun Tong Location within Hong Kong | |
| Coordinates:22°18′54″N114°13′30″E / 22.315°N 114.225°E /22.315; 114.225 | |
| Country | China |
| SAR | Hong Kong |
| District | Kwun Tong District |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (Hong Kong Time) |
| Kwun Tong | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 觀塘 (originally '官塘') | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 观塘 | ||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Gun1 tong4 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "viewing a pond" | ||||||||||||||
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Kwun Tong is an area in theKwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of theKowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches fromLion Rock in the north toLei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths ofKowloon Peak in the east to the north coast of the formerKai Tak Airport runway in the west.
One of the firstnew towns in Hong Kong, Kwun Tong was, and remains, a majorindustrial area. Its population has been growing rapidly, and the demand for housing, medical and educational facilities and services has been increasing. In view of this, a number of community development projects, such as the redevelopment of oldhousing estates and the construction of major parks, have been implemented in recent years. These projects have incorporated a wide range of supporting facilities, like primary andsecondary schools, clinics,community centres and open spaces. All these facilities have brought about a new face to the Kwun Tong District, making it a more comfortable place for the people to live.
The Chinese name of Kwun Tong ("觀塘") was formerly written as "官塘" (transcribed asKoon Tong inCantonese Yale). Despite the identical pronunciation of these two names in Cantonese, they have different meanings. "官塘" literally meansMandarinPond, which was allegedly named after the Koon Fu salt yards (官富鹽場) set up by the government to securecentral administration of the salt trade and prevent unauthorised salt preparation and trading in theSong dynasty.[1][2] In those days, there were many salt yards in and around Kwun Tong, whose long coastline stretched to as far asKowloon Bay andTo Kwa Wan in the west. Koon Fu salt yards was one of the four largest salt beds inDongguan province, and was a site of high political significance.[3][2]
Since the Song Dynasty, troops were stationed there to monitor the salt yards' operation. Despite the government's close watch, illegal salt trade was still active onLantau Island. When officials tried to tax salt production on the island, in 1197 Lantau Salt farmers instigated a riot to revolt against them.[4][5] Government authorities ordered Koon Fu administrators to take control, troops were deployed to the island for a full-scale crackdown, resulting in the massacre of many islanders.[2]
Antiques and coins traced back toNorthern Song Dynasty andSouthern Song Dynasty were discovered in neighbouringKowloon City district andWong Tai Sin. Similar coins were also unearthed along the coast of Kwun Tong starting fromKowloon Bay, suggesting that Kwun Tong has already been a relatively prosperous area since then.[2]
According to other stories, Kwun Tong was a typhoon shelter for the Kowloon Water Police, which made it an important political and defence point of south-easternKowloon.[citation needed] Black Hill (Ng Kwai Shan), which today rises up behindLam Tin Estate, was known as Koon Fu Hill (官富山) at that time.[2]
Duringthe Great Clearance in the Qing Dynasty, coastal residents were forced to evacuate inland 50li (roughly equivalent to 25Km) to quell support for theanti-Qing loyalists inTaiwan. This caused the salt farms in Kwun Tong to be abandoned.[3] When the ban was lifted in 1669, many of the original inhabitants did not return, re-settlers who came from agricultural backgrounds soon took over, leading to the vanishing of the salt industry in Kwun Tong.[2]
In the 1950s, when Kwun Tong was being developed as asatellite town, the local residents disliked the wordKoon (官), which literally meansofficial orgovernment, and they persuaded the Hong Kong government to change the place name to Kwun Tong (觀塘,lit. 'Viewing a Pond'). The development of Kwun Tong spearheaded the construction and planning of new towns in theNew Territories, although the first project was limited in scope and did not share the features of self-contained communities like the later ones.[6]
Kwun Tong was one of the first and major industrial areas in Hong Kong, with factories having been built there since the 1950s. The industrial area has since then expanded toKowloon Bay andYau Tong. Since themanufacturing sector of Hong Kong is in decline, many factories have been torn down and commercial buildings are being constructed to replace them.
In recent years, the government has started to re-develop the coastal area of Kwun Tong to correspond with the re-development of the Kai Tak district. A promenade and a park has been built along the coast nearKwun Tong Pier.
The residential areas in Kwun Tong are mainly located in lower Kwun Tong, to the northeast ofKwun Tong Road.
Kwun Tong is situated at the eastern part of theKowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon Peak in the east to the north coast of the Airport (Kai Tak) runway in the west.
Gammon Construction has its head office in Kwun Tong.[8] It occupies 36,900 square feet (3,430 m2) of space there. It moved fromQuarry Bay circa 2019.[9]
Citibank (Hong Kong) has its head office atOne Bay East.
Link REIT has its head office atThe Quayside [zh] (海濱匯) in Kwun Tong.[10]
Hong Kong Public Libraries maintains the Shui Wo Street Public Library in the Shui Wo Street Municipal Services Building.[11]
Kwun Tong is served by theKwun Tong station ofMTR'sKwun Tong line.
Roads that are serving the area include:
Kwun Tong Pier used to be a major transport hub for cross-harbour passengers until the opening of the MTR and the Eastern Harbour Crossing. Today, ferry services toSai Wan Ho andNorth Point are still available.
KMB bus terminus serving the area include:
Following some recent redevelopment plans in Kwun Tong, the Yuet Wah Street Bus Terminus is about to be demolished, and the routes originally terminating there will be moved to the New Kwun Tong Station Bus Terminus and Yue Man Square Bus Terminus.
Located near the area is the formerKai Tak Airport, which is currently the site of a largecruise terminal, opened in 2013.
Hong Kong Headquarters Gammon Construction Limited Address 22/F, Tower 1, The Quayside 77 Hoi Bun Road Kwun Tong, Kowloon Hong Kong
Address 20/F., Tower 1, The Quayside, 77 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong-Traditional ChineseArchived 2 July 2019 at theWayback Machine: "香港九龍觀塘海濱道77號海濱匯1座20樓" -Simplified ChineseArchived 20 April 2021 at theWayback Machine: "香港九龙观塘海滨道77号海滨汇1座20楼"
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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Urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories | |||||||||||
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| MHong Kong1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |  | ||||||||||
| MOld KowloonKL,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MNew KowloonNKL,2,3,4,5,6,7,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| New Territories |
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Official place names are summarized from "Geoinfo Map" of Government ofHong Kong Special Administrative Region, "Hong Kong Guide" ofLands Department, "Hong Kong Guide Book" of Universal Publications Ltd. and "Areas and Districts" ofRating and Valuation Department. M：Narrow meaning of urban areas KL:Kowloon Peninsula at the south ofBoundary Street NKL: Former New Territories area at the north of Boundary Street and at the south ofLion Rock 1: Common definition (1) 2: Common definition (2) 3: Common definition (3) 4: Areas not adopting small house concessionary right ofindigenous inhabitants 5: Jurisdiction area of formerUrban Council 6: Definition of "Metropolitan Area" ofPlanning Department 7: Jurisdiction area ofUrban Renewal Authority 8: Unique operating area ofurban taxis 9: "Urban" (9a) and "Extended Urban" (9b) areas defined byHong Kong Housing Authority 10: Definition of Urbanrates 11: Hospital cluster belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 12: Police region belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 13: Regions having 999-year land lease 14:Geographical Constituency inHong Kong Legislative Council belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 15:Regional Education Office belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 16:Primary One Admission School Net belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon | |||||||||||
22°18′54″N114°13′30″E / 22.315°N 114.225°E /22.315; 114.225
