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Tai Wai (; Cantonese , Jyutping: daai3 wai4, Mandarin Pinyin: Dàwěi) is a small town in Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin and the Lion Rock. Administratively, it is the biggest part of Sha Tin District.
History
Tai Wai was built in 1574 as a village. Sprouting from a traditional Chinese farming village, it once functioned as an industrial park in the 1970's. Few factory buildings are still in use, mostly as warehouses while others have been long deserted.
The Tai Wai village, where the name of the area came from, was the largest and oldest walled village in Sha Tin with over 400 years of history.
Tai Wai New Village located on a slope alongside Tai Po Road, just minutes walk away from the old village, was established in the 1980's as the then colonial government's effort to conpensate the villagers for effectively confiscating their land for development.
Each male villager was given a piece of land of which he has the right to build a Spanish styled three storey house to live in. Most of these houses are now rented by outsiders for the relatively tranquil countryside surroundings.
Transportation
The Tai Wai Station of the KCR has been expanded on December 21, 2004, to act as the interchange between the East Rail and Ma On Shan Rail. There are also a vast network of bus and minibus routes.
Housing
With hundreds of three storey village houses (some Spanish styled, others more traditional), a few public housing estates, as well as numerious privately-owned apartment blocks, Tai Wai's population of approx. 10,000 is composed largely of low to medium income households of different ethnic background ranging from local Chinese to Korean, Parkistani and Westerners.
Recreational
Many remember Tai Wai by its famous cycling park. Beginners could practice their cycling skill within the park while the more advanced riders could cycle alongside the Shing Mun River all the way to Tai Po. The journery would typically take half a day on the scenic route. The park was demolished in 2001 to make way for the railway terminus of the Ma On Shan line.
Che Kung Temple is yet another famous attraction. Hundreds of thousands flock to this Taoist temple on the 2nd day of each Chinese New Year to worship Che Kung - a general from the Sung dynasty, and queue up to turn the wheel which symbolizes both the cosmic movement in the turning of the year and the hope of each wheel spinner for a good turn of fortune in the forthcoming year. Another temple located in the walled village, namely Hou Wong Temple, is also very populas among the Sha Tin locals.
"Tai Wai"