Sai Kung 5.93

Sai Kung Town or simply Sai Kung is a town on Sai Kung Peninsula, facing Sai Kung Hoi (Inner Port Shelter), part of Sai Kung District in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Sai Kung is the centre of the surrounding villages, and hence the name may refer to the areas in its immediate surroundings.HistoryThe name “Sai Kung” dated back to the early days of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court had sent an officer Zheng He and his fleets to sail to the Western oceans for seven times during 1405-1433. After these seven voyages, many boats from countries in East Asia, Middle East and East Africa started paying tribute to and developing trade with the Ming court. At the time, Sai Kung was the port of the boats from the West. As time passes, here calls “Sai Kung” which means “tributes from the West” in Chinese.Sai Kung Hoi was a fishing harbour and fishermen still gather there. The harbour is now a typhoon shelter, where motorized junks used in the local tourist trade now are moored. They are boats that now can be hired for fishing and swimming trips.Sai Kung town underwent significant expansion during the 1970s when the High Island Reservoir and associated water scheme required some villagers and fishermen to be rehoused in Sai Kung. This provided a core of government-funded new development, both housing and commercial, in the town centre. This was followed by the Tui Min Hoi (literally 'over the harbour') development under the government's market town programme.Before the relocation of the airport of Hong Kong from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok, the town was a popular residential area for airport staff from all over the world.