The border between Hong Kong and mainland China bisects the closed town of Sha Ta Kok, but Shui Gor crosses the border every morning without thinking. The restaurateur lives life on both sides, waking up early at his home in Shenzhen and walking 10 minutes to reach his restaurant on the Hong Kong side.
“That apartment is [in mainland China] It’s much more spacious,” he said with a laugh.
The 57-year-old owns Hui Shan Lau, one of the town’s oldest restaurants in Hong Kong’s Frontier Closed Area (a restricted border area established by the British colonial government in 1951 to combat illegal immigration and espionage). is managed.
Shui Gol, an indigenous Hakka resident of the town, has a residence permit that allows her to cross border crossings freely. Other Hong Kong residents must obtain permission to enter the frontier area.
Shui Gor, an indigenous Shatawkok resident, prepares milk tea base on April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
In January, the entry restriction system was expanded to allow up to 1,000 visitors into the town each day to encourage business. Since then, there has been a slight influx of local tourists, Shui Go said.
hong kong border town
Sha Ta Kok, once a bustling trading post between Hong Kong and the mainland, was quiet when Hong Kong FP visited on Friday morning — as usual on weekdays, according to restaurateurs.
Hui Shan Lau is located on the corner of Chongying Street, which divides the town into two along the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s Yantian District. Sha Tou Kok in Hong Kong and Sha Tou Kok on the mainland. Even under the entry system, the road remains closed to the public.
This border town was the site of leftist militias who shot dead five police officers during the 1967 riots sparked by protests at an artificial flower factory in Sanpo Cong following the outbreak of China’s Cultural Revolution. It’s a place.
A view of Chongying Street from a restaurant in Shatajiao on April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Since the town is located within a frontier zone, immigration planning, which is effectively a tourism initiative, falls under the jurisdiction of the Security Department.
Security remains tight, with police stationed at the entrance to the gated town, boarding minibuses and checking visitors’ permission to enter. Two Hong Kong FP journalists were assigned escort from the police public relations department.
Located on the easternmost tip of the New Territories, Shataojiao is part of the Northern Metropolis development, a planned large-scale cross-border technology hub and housing project.
A man passes through the Zhong Ying Street checkpoint in Shatou Kok on April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
According to an action plan released last year, the border town, along with neighboring areas such as Robinsnest and surrounding coastal villages and remote islands, will be used for recreation and ecotourism development.
However, Shui Goh was less optimistic about the plan’s envisaged benefits for Shatau Kok, saying most visitors he spoke to thought the entry permit requirements were too onerous. “Even if I visit, it will only be once or twice,” he said, adding that the novelty would wear off quickly.
August 19, 2024, visitors at Shadao Kok Public Pier. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
While he welcomed the renewed interest in Shatao Kok, he lamented long-standing problems that cannot be addressed by promoting local tourism.
“Many locals make handicrafts and traditional foods such as char guo (glutinous dumplings), but there aren’t many ways for them to sell their products. They face fines for selling without a license. I’m worried that this might happen,” he said.
Shata Kokchuen, a public housing complex in a border town. Photo: Kyle Lamb/HKFP.
A small agricultural production network of local farmers, food processing factories, and community organizations acting as retailers still occupies a small niche in Shatoujiao and nearby Laijiwo.
However, Shui Goh added that while the revitalization of tourism is welcome, it does not do much to support these local industries.
historic shophouse
The upper floors of a 19th-century shophouse on Saint Lau Street house the Chataucock Story House, a private museum displaying artifacts from bygone eras. The walls are lined with old rice mills, police uniforms, sewing machines, and record players, all collected by the museum’s founder, Charles Lee.
Mr. Charles Lee of Shadojiao Story House, April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“What was once a barren land has been transformed into a replica of the Chinese-English Street Garden and railway,” he said of the new tourism initiative. In front of the border crossing, beyond the town’s 51 public housing blocks, there is a garden and a replica station where tour groups can take photos.
But Mr Lee, who is also chairman of the Shadao Kok Cultural and Ecological Association, hopes the town will become known for more than just a renovated tourist attraction. “We have all the hardware, but the software is still missing. My goal is to develop Shado Kok into a place where art and culture can flourish.”
Local tourists taking part in a walking tour of Shatin Ukok. Take a photo on April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
With more resources, curators will be able to provide proper care to the museum’s exhibits, and local organizations will be able to showcase the town’s history and culture, Lee said. He said while pointing to the Thai store.
Originally a wholesaler selling rice harvested from nearby islands in the 1930s, Wong Cheung Tai later became a furniture store. More than 20 years after it went out of business, it was reborn in January as a community space that hosts sketch tours, documentary screenings, a farmers market, music performances, and more.
The 22 shophouses on Saint-Lau Street are classified as Grade 2 historic buildings. Photo: Kyle Lamb/HKFP.
However, when Hong Kong FP visited earlier this month, Wong Chun Tai was not open. A few doors down there was a souvenir shop with shirts and photo backdrops.
quiet market
At the nearby Shatin Ukok market, neatly arranged stacks of dumplings were on display. Mr Wong, the shop owner, lamented that there were not many tourists visiting the market and almost a third of the stalls were empty.
Mr. Wong (right), a shopkeeper at Shado Kok Market, April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“I see tourists outside, but they don’t come in. I don’t know why.” She added that she doesn’t have the courage to sell dumplings outside the market without permission from the Food and Environmental Health Authority.
“I know that Hong Kong people don’t like to waste money, but they get very little income from these things,” Wong added, gesturing to the homemade snacks.
With the decline of agriculture and fishing over the past few decades, younger generations have left the town in search of better opportunities, leaving behind older residents who were dissatisfied with the entry system.
An elderly resident of Sha Ta Kok Chuen celebrates his birthday on April 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Mr Wong, himself a resident of Sha Ta Kok, welcomed the initiative, but elderly residents, who make up a significant portion of the town’s population of about 4,000, were reluctant to fully reopen, citing the potential for nuisance. He said he was generally against it.
“I think there are always two ways to look at it,” she said.
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