- Mei Foo redirects here. For the MTR
MTR, or Mass Transit Railway, is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. The MTR first began service in 1979 and officially merged with the Kowloon Canton Railway on 2 December 2007, still bearing the same name in English. The network includes 211.6 km of rail with 150 stations,...
station in the area, see Mei Foo Station.
Mei Foo Sun Chuen or simply
Mei Foo (美孚) is a large
private housing estateA private housing estate is a term in Hong Kong that refers to a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings,...
in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
. Located in
Lai Chi KokLai Chi Kok is an area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It locates east of Kwai Chung and west of Cheung Sha Wan. Mei Foo Sun Chuen is the largest housing estate in the area. Administratively it belongs to Sham Shui Po District.-History:...
of
KowloonKowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong, comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, it was built in stages from 1965 to 1978 on the
reclamationThis article is about Land reclamation in Hong Kong.Land is in short supply in Hong Kong and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:...
formerly used for petroleum storage by
MobilMobil was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company. Its former headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, are currently used as ExxonMobil's downstream headquarters...
(Now
ExxonMobilThe Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil....
) in Hong Kong (Mobil's Chinese trading name in Hong Kong is 美孚/Mei Foo).
- Mei Foo redirects here. For the MTR
MTR, or Mass Transit Railway, is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. The MTR first began service in 1979 and officially merged with the Kowloon Canton Railway on 2 December 2007, still bearing the same name in English. The network includes 211.6 km of rail with 150 stations,...
station in the area, see Mei Foo Station.
Mei Foo Sun Chuen or simply
Mei Foo (美孚) is a large
private housing estateA private housing estate is a term in Hong Kong that refers to a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings,...
in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
. Located in
Lai Chi KokLai Chi Kok is an area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It locates east of Kwai Chung and west of Cheung Sha Wan. Mei Foo Sun Chuen is the largest housing estate in the area. Administratively it belongs to Sham Shui Po District.-History:...
of
KowloonKowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong, comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, it was built in stages from 1965 to 1978 on the
reclamationThis article is about Land reclamation in Hong Kong.Land is in short supply in Hong Kong and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:...
formerly used for petroleum storage by
MobilMobil was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company. Its former headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, are currently used as ExxonMobil's downstream headquarters...
(Now
ExxonMobilThe Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil....
) in Hong Kong (Mobil's Chinese trading name in Hong Kong is 美孚/Mei Foo). Mei Foo Sun Chuen was the first
private housing estateA private housing estate is a term in Hong Kong that refers to a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings,...
in Hong Kong and at the time of completion, the 99 tower complex was considered the largest private housing development in the world, accommodating up to 60,000 people in 13,500 apartments. At the time of building, the government was tackling the serious squatter hut problem by constructing public resettlement estates for citizens without homes (especially those displaced by the Shek Kip Mei fire). At the time, a flat in Mei Foo cost around HK$40,000.
Buildings
The residential complexes of Mei Foo were considered
grand in the old days; every apartment unit offers a balcony, at least two rooms and one bathroom. The apartment sizes vary from 600 to 1,800 square feet (56 to 167 square metres). Every apartment complex has a 24 hour unified, unarmed security force. Entry to a residential block requires an entrance code, which changes periodically.
Mei Foo Sun Chuen has several
schoolA school , is an institution designed to allow and encourage students to learn, under the supervision of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, medical
clinicA clinic is a small private or public health facility that is devoted to the care of outpatients, often in a community, in contrast to larger hospitals, which also treat inpatients. Some grow to be institutions as large as major hospitals, whilst retaining the name clinic...
s,
salonA beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons and spas....
s,
newspaper kioskA newsagent is a person who a operates a newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand , often a small business that sells newspapers, magazines, stationery, snacks and often items of local interest such as postcards and clothing emblazoned with sports team mascots...
s,
supermarketA supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s, shopping arcades,
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s and
food marketA wet market is generally an open food market. Some of the common names include "Cultural Markets", "traditional markets", "Gaai Si", "Gaai See".-Terminology:...
s. The private secondary schools, in particular are formerly notable for academically poor students (The schools in Hong Kong are divided, based on academic achievements into 3 categories. The aforementioned schools are in the third category and are deemed to have less than satisfactory performances.) However, as education policy changes, some schools evolve into multicultural ones.
The once largest owners' corporation with legal status in Hong Kong, The Incorporated Owners of Mei Foo Sun Chuen - Stage I, was formed in 1997. The founder of the corporation, Yiu Chi-Wai, served as the Chairman of the Management Committee from 1997 to 2000. The other seven stages' owners' corporations were also formed during the period.
Transport
Mei Foo is on the crossroad between
KowloonKowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong, comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
and
Tsuen WanTsuen Wan is a bay in the New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite to Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. A market town of the Tsuen Wan emerged for the surrounding villages and fleets of fishing boats in the area. The town is around the present-day Tsuen Wan Station of the MTR...
. It is also considered part of the west border of urban
KowloonKowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong, comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
.
Kwai Chung RoadKwai Chung Road is a main road in Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It starts from the junction with Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road and Butterfly Valley Road in Cheung Sha Wan, via Mei Foo, Lai Chi Kok Bridge, Chung Kwai Chung, to the junction with Castle Peak Road and Cheung Wing...
and
Lai Chi Kok BridgeLai Chi Kok Bridge is a bridge of Kwai Chung Road, linking Mei Foo of Lai Chi Kok in New Kowloon and Kwai Chung in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The bridge spans over the Lai Chi Kok Bay, which was later reclaimed. Under the bridge is now the Mei Foo Station of the KCR West Rail and the...
are the major motorways in the area. A major
bus terminusA bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus stops. Termini can both start and stop at the same...
is located under the Kwai Chung Road underpass as an end destination for multiple bus routes.
MTRMTR, or Mass Transit Railway, is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. The MTR first began service in 1979 and officially merged with the Kowloon Canton Railway on 2 December 2007, still bearing the same name in English. The network includes 211.6 km of rail with 150 stations,...
, a major rail system, services
Mei FooMei Foo is a Hong Kong MTR station located in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon. It is an interchange station between the and the . It is between Lai Chi Kok and Lai King stations on the Tsuen Wan Line and Nam Cheong Station and Tsuen Wan West stations on the West Rail...
by the Tsuen Wan Line, completed in 1982. Another rail system, West Rail Line, also has a station in Mei Foo, operational since 2003. Other forms of public transport like
minibusA minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. Minibuses have a seating capacity of between 8 and 30 seats. Larger minibuses may be called midibuses or light buses...
es and
taxiA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s also service the estate.
Events
- DBS Bank Safe Deposit Box Destruction Incident (2 October 2004)
Lai Chi Kok Park
The Lai Chi Kok Park is a large public area near the estate, stretching along the Kwai Chung Road motorway. The park, mainly built on reclaimed land, contains a children's playground, public swimming facilities, an indoor sports center, an outdoor running facility, a traditional Chinese garden, basketball courts, squash courts, soccer fields, tennis courts and a skate park.
The indoor sports center has squash courts, basketball courts, ballet studios and badminton courts.
The swimming facility is quite large. It contains 3 training pools, 2 main pools (one 1.2m-1.4m, the other 1.4m-1.9m in depth), two kid's pools, and a diving pool.
The Mei Foo skatepark is the biggest skatepark in Hong Kong and also the most visited. It contains two half pipes and several quarter pipes, single rails and fun boxes. Most of the ramps are above . The skatepark has been visited by various professional skateboarders such as
Chris HaslamChris Haslam is a Canadian professional skateboarder, originally from Vancouver who now resides in Richmond, BC.-Biography:Haslam started skating at the age of 13, while living with his parents in Singapore, and turned pro in 2002...
, Terrell Robinson,
Mike PetersonPorter Michael Peterson is an American football linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida.Peterson has also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is...
.
My Little AirportMy Little Airport is a Hong Kong-based indie pop band. Their lyrics are marked by spelling, grammar, and rhythm inflected by Hong Kong English. Ah P writes the lyrics and the music, which he also plays, while Nicole sings...
, a local indie band, made a song about it.
See also