New Territories, along with some 235 islands along Hong Kong's coast, was
leased to the British in 1898 for a period of 99 years.
The British and Chinese met
to discuss the future (then) of the lease; that led ultimatly to the
hand-over
of Hong Kong (in one piece) back to China in 1997 and all the other things that goes
with it: Joint Declaration, Basic Law, Emmirgration Waves blah blah blah........
Origin of the name...
Unforunately, the name "New Territories" doesn't havs a romatic history like
Kowloon or Hong Kong Island does. It got its name when it was leased
to Britain, who gave it the name because it was their
newest acquiction (a bit unimaginative, me think).
Means of transport:
This really should be spilted into 2 catagroies: New Territories itself
(the piece of land north of Kowloon) and the islands scattered around Hong
Kong. So here goes:
A. The piece of land:Walk?
B. The islands:Swim?
I am sorry, But I think I've repeated myself over and over again in the 2 other parts of
this site: namely Hong Kong Island and
Kowloon. There aren't much difference in transportation for different parts of Hong Kong.
(Don't be so LAZY!!! Ed.)
Okay okay, so there is this "blue" taxi operating in Lantau Island; a light railway system
which operate in parts of "A" (I can't be bothered to type them all out); and the
"green" taxi which can only operate in "A" whereas the "red" taxi can run around everywhere.
(Have I missed anything?)
Pictures of the Territories:
If you think Hong Kong is a total "concrete forest", you are in for a big
surprise here. Yes there are loads of people in Hong Kong, but some of the land
here retained their natural beauty, most of them being in New Territories. And
some of the pictures below will testify to it: (again, click on the thumpnail
to download the originals. To see the list of contributors, go to
"Credits")
A view of CheungChau from the top of a hill (left). CheungChau is just one of the islands in HK. And a pretty nice
one as well. During summer and holidays a lot of people, mainly young people, would visit there (via ferry).
Renting holiday accomodation there is also a pretty propular option.
Paddy fields in the Shatin Valley. This was taken in 1960 (around that time...). As you can see, this
place had been pretty developed as a rice-growing area; but not very developed as a town for many
people to live in. It really is a big contrast to today where Shatin is home to a lot of people (and
when I say "a lot" I really mean it)
This is the Budha Statue at Lantau Island (left). Built in 1992 (I think). Unproven sources -
this is the largest budha statue in South-East Asia (world?); it was specially designed
to withstand natural forces: typhoons, rain/thunder-storms etc etc; if you paid a load
of money (oops, contribute is the word) for it to be built, you can have your name engraved
on one of the "leaves" the budha is sitting on.
Gambling - it seems that Hong Kong people can't live without it (only a joke). Horse racing was
introduced by the British when they took over Hong Kong; Hong Kong people took up the idea well,
even "improved" on it. Do away with the fences and jumps, and just give the horses a flat piece
of land to run as fast as they can. People bet on them. Nice and simple.... maybe not. you see,
the method of gambling has grown to become pretty complicated. You can see for yourself as there
are web pages devoted to this subject. Oh,
I nearly forgot to mention: the picture on the right is the horse race track in Shatin (the other
one is in HK Island - HappyValley)
The picture on the left is Maon Shan - one of the newest new town being developed. It is "next" to
Shatin and it has
become quite accessible (no trains or MTR though). Having exhausted Kowloon, HK Island and
some "old" satelite-towns (eg. Shatin) people are increasingly looking towards the "fertile" land
of New Territories to live in. Other examples of new-towns include Tai Po, Fanling and Sheung
Shu.
A view of CheungChau from the top of a hill (left). CheungChau is just one of the islands in HK. And a pretty nice
one as well. During summer and holidays a lot of people, mainly young people, would visit there (via ferry).
Renting holiday accomodation there is also a pretty propular option.
Paddy fields in the Shatin Valley. This was taken in 1960 (around that time...). As you can see, this
place had been pretty developed as a rice-growing area; but not very developed as a town for many
people to live in. It really is a big contrast to today where Shatin is home to a lot of people (and
when I say "a lot" I really mean it)
This is the Budha Statue at Lantau Island (left). Built in 1992 (I think). Unproven sources -
this is the largest budha statue in South-East Asia (world?); it was specially designed
to withstand natural forces: typhoons, rain/thunder-storms etc etc; if you paid a load
of money (oops, contribute is the word) for it to be built, you can have your name engraved
on one of the "leaves" the budha is sitting on.
Gambling - it seems that Hong Kong people can't live without it (only a joke). Horse racing was
introduced by the British when they took over Hong Kong; Hong Kong people took up the idea well,
even "improved" on it. Do away with the fences and jumps, and just give the horses a flat piece
of land to run as fast as they can. People bet on them. Nice and simple.... maybe not. you see,
the method of gambling has grown to become pretty complicated. You can see for yourself as there
are web pages devoted to this subject. Oh,
I nearly forgot to mention: the picture on the right is the horse race track in Shatin (the other
one is in HK Island - HappyValley)
The picture on the left is Maon Shan - one of the newest new town being developed. It is "next" to
Shatin and it has
become quite accessible (no trains or MTR though). Having exhausted Kowloon, HK Island and
some "old" satelite-towns (eg. Shatin) people are increasingly looking towards the "fertile" land
of New Territories to live in. Other examples of new-towns include Tai Po, Fanling and Sheung
Shu.
