Sai Kung Town
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- Sai Kung redirects here. For the district of Hong Kong, see Sai Kung District. For the peninsula in eastern New Territories, Hong Kong, see Sai Kung Peninsula.
Sai Kung Town (Traditional Chinese: 西貢市) or simply Sai Kung (西貢) is a town on Sai Kung Peninsula, facing the Sai Kung Hoi (Inner Port Shelter) in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It is the centre of the surrounding villages; thus, Sai Kung may also refer to the areas in its immediate surroundings. It is part of the Sai Kung District.
The town evolved from fishing villages. It is now a mecca for seafood lovers, locals and tourists alike. Visitors can stroll around the market centre of Sai Kung Town or explore the back lanes, visit the Tin Hau Temple, feast on seafood or enjoy different delicacies at Western-style pubs and restaurants. There is also a famous dessert restaurant called Honeymoon Dessert that brings in many visitors from all over Hong Kong and even from abroad.
Sai Kung Hoi is a good harbour and fishermen gather there. There is a typhoon shelter in the harbour protecting a marina, where some of the last remaining Tanka junks in Hong Kong are to be found. Many of these boats are now abandoned as homes with their former residents moving to land but they are still kept as pleasure boats by their owners. The are boats that you can hire for cuttlefish catching trips. A typical trip would last 3-hours, costing perhaps HKD500 for a group of five.
In Hong Kong terms, the development of the town has been remarkably restrained. There are few condominium tower blocks that rise above ten storeys. Before the relocation of the airport of Hong Kong from Kai Tak to Chep Lap Kok, the town was a popular residential area for airport staff from all over the world. The town, with its relatively clean air and slow pace of life, for Hong Kong, is still a popular place for many people of Hong Kong to live.
[edit] Transport
Most of public transport on the Sai Kung Peninsula start and stop at the bus and minibus terminus in the town. There is no MTR link in Sai Kung. Ferry service is available to the outlying islands and isolated coastal villages in the Sai Kung Hoi.
To get to Sai Kung you can catch the 1A or 1 minibus from Choi Hung MTR station, or the 92 double decker bus from Diamond Hill or Choi Hung. If you are coming from Hang Hau MTR you need to catch the 101 minibus, and from Ma On Shan KCR you catch the 99 or 299 double decker bus to Sai Kung.
There is a direct Public light bus service from Sai Kung to Dundas Street in Mong Kok.
