| Fo Tan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 View of Fo Tan | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 火炭 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | fire charcoal | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Fo Tan (Chinese:火炭;Cantonese Yale:Fótaan) is an area ofSha Tin District,New Territories,Hong Kong. It was developed as alight industrial area, but this activity has declined markedly in recent years. There are residential areas to the east, alongside theMTR line, and in the foothills to the west.
Fo Tan is located around a river, theFo Tan Nullah. Historically, a beach was revealed when the water receded. The area thus became known as "river beach" (Chinese:河灘). InHakka, this was pronounced "Fo Tan". It was later mistakenly called "Fire Beach" (Chinese:火灘) due to similarities in pronunciation. This has further changed into "Fire Charcoal" (Chinese:火炭) which is in current use, again due to similarities in pronunciation.
North East South West To the south isSha Tin New Town, with the small community ofWo Che in between. To the north isKau To and theChinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Nearby to the east isSha Tin Racecourse while across theShing Mun River isCity One Shatin.
Since 2001, as most industrial businesses have closed and moved tomainland China, more than 70 units in the utilitarian industrial blocks have reopened as artists' studios, creating a vibrant if well hidden local arts scene. Every January, a festival, Fotanian - Open Studio Programme, sees many of the studios open to the public. Guided walks lead visitors to these normally private working studios, which encompass a wide range of media and styles such as ceramic andfloral design.[1][2] Fo Tan was chosen for artist spaces because the ceilings of the buildings are high and because it is in the middle of the New Territories.[3]
Private housing estates in Fo Tan include:
There are originally 24 Hakka villages. Villages in Fo Tan include:
A.S. Watson Group has its head office in the Watson House (Chinese:屈臣氏中心) in Fo Tan.[4][5]
Fo Tan 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.[6]
Schools in Fo Tan:
Urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| ||||||||||
| MNew KowloonNKL,2,3,4,5,6,7,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
| ||||||||||
| New Territories |
| ||||||||||
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°23′49″N114°11′45″E / 22.39694°N 114.19593°E /22.39694; 114.19593
