Sha Tin, also speltShatin, is a neighbourhood alongShing Mun River in the easternNew Territories,Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of theSha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of theSha Tin New Town project.

Sha Tin 沙田
Neighbourhood
Shing Mun River Promenade
Sha Tin Location within Hong Kong
Coordinates:22°22′30″N114°11′00″E / 22.37500°N 114.18333°E /22.37500; 114.18333
Country	China
SAR	Hong Kong
District	Sha Tin District
Time zone	UTC+8 (HKT)

Sha Tin
Lek Yuen Bridge over Shing Mun River in Sha Tin central
Chinese	沙田
Jyutping	Saa1 Tin4
Literal meaning	sandy field
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shātián Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sā Tìhn Jyutping Saa1 Tin4 IPA [sa˥.tʰin˩]

The new town was founded in 1973 under theNew Towns Development Programme of the Hong Kong government. Its current name was named after the nearby village ofSha Tin Wai. The literal English translation is 'Sand Fields'.

Tai Wai Village, located inTai Wai, next to Sha Tin, and the oldest and largestwalled village inSha Tin District, was built in 1574, during theMing Dynasty.^[1]

BeforeBritish rule in Hong Kong, the area of Sha Tin and its vicinity was referred to asLek Yuen (瀝源, 沥源, lit. "source of trickling" or "source of clear water"). In 1899, when colonial surveyors George P Tate and his assistant William John Newland were dispatched to survey the New Territories, they likely mistook the name of theSha Tin Wai village as the name of the area and hence "Sha Tin" has been used ever since.^[2][3] Nowadays, the original name is used to refer toLek Yuen Estate.

Sha Tin was the location ofthe first flight of a powered aircraft in Hong Kong in 1911. The aeroplane, a Farman Mk II bi-plane named “Wanda”, was flown by Belgian pilot Charles Van den Born.^[4][5] The plane was later named as theSpirit of Sha Tin (沙田精神號). A full size replica of this plane now hangs inHong Kong International Airport.

The area was formerly agricultural farmland. Before Sha Tin's development into anew town,Hung Mui Kuk (紅梅谷), southwest of Sha Tin, was perennially the main site for schoolpicnics. The hillside area remains a popular barbecue site.

In 1956, amarket township:Sha Tin Hui, was established on top of unused agricultural fields at the present location of Sha Tin Centre Street andNew Town Plaza shopping centre, next to theSha Tin station of theMTREast Rail line. The township was founded by Den Lau (劉贊瑞), the son of businessman Lau Hey Shing (劉希成) who owned the 150,000 sq ft. plot of land. Sha Tin Hui contained five streets with shops, restaurants, and residential buildings. Modern facilities such as a post office and a cinema were also put in place.^[6] In 1962 Sha Tin Hui was severely damaged bytyphoon Wanda, and subsequently had to be rebuilt. In 1979 Sha Tin Hui was demolished as a result of the government's expansion plans. The land was leased toSun Hung Kai properties, who then developed the area intoNew Town Plaza shopping centre.^[2]

Starting in the 1970s, the area became part of theSha Tin New Town development. Since then, the economy in the area has greatly improved and living standards have also increased. Sha Tin Town Centre was developed during the mid-1980s to help "link the town's currently dispersed residents into one cohesive community."^[7] The 18-hectare site, adjacent to the railway station, was built up in stages to house an array of uses including theNew Town Plaza, numerous smaller shopping malls,Sha Tin Park, a magistracy,library,town hall, marriage registry, hotel, town square, and several residential towers.

Sha Tin is located in a valley, on both sides of theShing Mun River, running from the southwest to the northeast. It is bordered byTai Wai in the southwest and byFo Tan (left bank) andShek Mun (right bank) in the northeast.

Due to their proximity to the Shenzhen border, towns in the northern parts of Hong Kong, notably Sheung Shui and Yuen Long, have become hubs for parallel traders who have been buying up large quantities of goods, forcing up local prices and disrupting the daily lives of local citizens.^[8][9] Since 2012, there has been an increase in mainlandparallel traders arriving in theNorth District of Hong Kong to re-export infant formula and household products – goods popular with mainlanders – across the border to Shenzhen.^[10] The volume of smuggling activity spilled over into Tuen Mun and Sha Tin in 2014.

The first anti-parallel trading protest was started at Sheung Shui in September 2012.^[11] As government efforts to limit the adverse impact of mainland trafficking were widely seen as inadequate, so there have been furthersubsequent protests in towns in the New Territories including Sha Tin.^[12][13]

Private housing estates in Sha Tin include:

• New Town Plaza (新城市廣場)
• Citylink Plaza (連城廣場)
• Sha Tin Plaza (沙田廣場)
• Sha Tin Centre (沙田中心)
• Lucky Plaza (好運中心)
• Hilton Plaza [zh] (希爾頓中心)
• Wai Wah Centre (偉華中心)
• Fortune City One (置富第一城)
• Grand Central Plaza - HomeSquare (新城市中央廣場)

Lukfook, the jewellery company, has its head office in Metropole Square (新都廣場), Sha Tin.^[15]

While having been mass developed in the 1970s, Shatin's architecture maintains a degree of diversity. Most public housing estates were designed in a modern architectural style. Several shopping centres, hotels and government buildings around Shatin Central are clad in red brick.

• Sai Lam Temple [zh] (西林寺)^[16]
• Sam Yuen Temple (三元宮)
• Wai Chuen Monastery [zh] (慧泉寺)
• Dao Hop Yuen (道合園)
• Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (萬佛寺)
• Tao Fung Shan Christian Centre (道風山基督教叢林)
• International Fellowship North, English speaking Christian church in Siu Lek Yuen.^[17]
• Shatin Baptist Church (沙田浸信會)
• Shatin Anglican Church

ThePrince of Wales Hospital was officially opened in 1982. It provides about 1,400 hospital beds and 24 hours Accident & Emergency service to the eastern New Territories. Other institutions which provide hospital services include theSha Tin Hospital, theCheshire Home and theUnion Hospital.

• Sha Tin Town Hall (沙田大會堂)
• Sha Tin Public Library (沙田公共圖書館)
• Hong Kong Heritage Museum (香港文化博物館)
• Sha Tin Marriage Registry (沙田婚姻註冊處)
• Sha Tin Park (沙田公園)
• Royal Park Hotel (帝都酒店)
• Sha Tin Sports Ground
• Star Seafood Floating Restaurant

As of 2008, there were 46 primary and 44 secondary schools in Sha Tin and Ma On Shan.^[18]

Shatin Town Centre is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 91. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money); no government schools are in this net.^[19]

There are numerous cultural, recreational and sport facilities in Sha Tin including theTown Hall, swimming pools, football pitches, indoor recreation centres and various track and field facilities for the use of Sha Tin residents.

The 8-hectareSha Tin Park was opened to public in 1988. Apart from its horticultural gardens and impressive water features, it also includes a large open plaza and a bandstand. The Ma On Shan Park, which is adjacent to Ma On Shan Swimming Pool, occupies 5.5 hectare of land.

TheSha Tin Racecourse, occupying approximately 70 hectares, rests on reclaimed flatland. At the centre of the racecourse is the Penfold Garden which opens to the public on non-racing days.

Located inTai Wai, theHong Kong Heritage Museum was opened at the end of 2000. Apart from introducing the art, culture and history of the New Territories, the museum also exhibits a variety of cultural artifacts for public appreciation. It has pop culture exhibitions aboutBruce Lee,Cantonese Opera,Jin Yong, development of Hong Kong popular music, film, and television and radio programmes. The museum, which can accommodate 6,000 visitors, is the largest in the territory.

Cycling has been a distinctive feature in Sha Tin and is very popular among both local people and visitors. The firstcycle track in Sha Tin was opened to public in 1981, running alongTolo Highway toTai Po, and this remains the territory's most popular cycling venue, drawing many occasional riders at the weekends, as well as dedicated cyclists. To tie in with the development of Ma On Shan, the cycle track was extended toMa On Shan.

Hiking is also a popular activity around Sha Tin. There are several starting points includingHin Tin Village,Sha Tin Tau Village andHung Mui Kuk Barbecue Area leading to the track of Lion Rock Mountain hiking route. It takes 1 hour to 4 hours to complete the track depending on the chosen starting point and ending point.

ADragon Boat Racing competition is taking annually onShing Mun River since 1984, at the time of theDragon Boat Festival.^[20]

Sha Tin is famous for certain local variants ofCantonesefood such as ShanSuiTofu (山水豆腐; 'mountain-water beancurd'), barbecued pigeon andchicken congee. The cooked food stalls inWo Che Estate andFo Tan are hotspots for food.

There are numerous transportation links both within the Sha Tin District and connecting it to other places in Hong Kong.

The road network in Sha Tin is well developed to provide efficient cross-town and local access traffic. Connection between Sha Tin and Kowloon mainly relies on theLion Rock Tunnel,Tate's Cairn Tunnel,Shing Mun Tunnel andTai Po Road which makes it easy to reach from many areas of Kowloon as well as from Tsuen Wan.

• Tai Po Road spans fromSham Shui Po inKowloon toTai Po in theNew Territories, connecting Sha Tin en route. It was once the only road connecting Kowloon and the eastern part of the New Territories.
• Opened in the 1960s, the Lion Rock Tunnel offers access to Central Kowloon.
• TheTate's Cairn Highway was completed in 1991, connecting East Kowloon (Wong Tai Sin,Diamond Hill,Choi Hung,Kowloon Bay, andKwun Tong) and Hong Kong Island via theEastern Harbour Crossing with the North East New Territories (Sha Tin, Tai Po andFanling) via the Tolo Highway and through Tate's Cairn Tunnel.
• Route connects Sha Tin toTsuen Wan via theShing Mun Tunnels and toHong Kong Island via theWestern Harbour Crossing. The travelling time is only about 30 minutes.
• Sai Sha Road was opened in 1988, connecting Sha Tin toSai Kung viaMa On Shan. Route T7, opened in August 2004, allows traffic to bypass Ma On Shan Town Centre when going from north of Ma On Shan to Sai Kung.
• An expressway (via Eagle's Nest Tunnel) connectingCheung Sha Wan in Kowloon to Sha Tin was opened on 21 March 2008. It aims at distributing traffic from Sha Tin and the area to its north, toLai Chi Kok,Kwai Chung, and the airport atChek Lap Kok andMong Kok. It has shortened the trip from Sha Tin to theChek Lap Kok International Airport to around 40 minutes.

At present, there are over 110 routes of public bus serving Sha Tin.^[21]

• TheMTR (East Rail line) is a major means of transportation betweenAdmiralty andLo Wu via Sha Tin. After the electrification of the line between 1979 and 1983, the East Rail now carries over 730,000 passengers daily.
• TheTuen Ma line opened on 21 December 2004. The 56.4 km long railway has 27 stations linkingWest Rail line atHung Hom viaKai Tak. The MTR Maintenance Centre is located in Tai Wai.

• Sha Tin Airfield
• Wo Che
• Siu Lek Yuen
• Yuen Chau Kok
• Lek Yuen Bridge

• Hase, P. H. (2020). "Chapter 3. Traditional Sha Tin".Settlement, Life, and Politics - Understanding the Traditional New Territories.Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong studies series.City University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 215–320.ISBN 9789629374419.