Travel information with destination guide in Sha Tin by GuideRooms.com   

Lek Yuen is the original name of the Sha Tin area and its environs. When British surveyors first came to the area, they visited Sha Tin Wai and tried to get the name of the whole area. The villagers answered the officials it is Sha Tin and therefore the officials mistakenly recorded this as the name of the whole area. Sha Tin has been used instead of Lek Yuen even since.

The name literally means Source of Trickling or Source of Clear Water.

Sha Tin is famous for certain southern Chinese food such as shanshui doufu (lit. mountain-water beancurd) , barbecued pigeon and chicken congee. The cooked food stalls in Wo Che Estate and Fo Tan are hotspots for food.

How to get there

The road network in Sha Tin is well developed to provide efficient cross-town and local access traffic. Connection between Sha Tin and Kowloon relies on the Lion Rock Tunnel, Tate’s Cairn Tunnel and Tai Po Road. Opened in 1960s, the Lion Rock Tunnel offers access to Central Kowloon. The Tate’s Cairn Highway was completed in 1991. Drivers can get to East Kowloon via the Tate's Cairn Tunnel and to North East New Territories via the Tolo Highway. Route 5 connects Sha Tin to Tsuen Wan via the Shing Mun Tunnel and to Hong Kong Island via the Western Harbour Tunnel. The travelling time is only about 30 minutes.

Sai Sha Road was opened in 1988. It connects Sha Tin to Sai Kung via Ma On Shan. T7 has been opened in August 2004, which allows traffic bypass Ma On Shan Town Centre when going from north of Ma On Shan to Sai Kung.

An expressway connecting Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon to Sha Tin is also under construction. It aims at distributing traffic from Sha Tin and area to its north, to Lai Chi Kok, Kwai Chung, and the airport at Chek Lap Kok and Mong Kok. The expressway is expected to be completed in 2007. Upon completion, it will only take 35 minutes to go from Sha Tin to the airport.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (East Rail) is a major means of transportation between Kowloon and Lo Wu via Sha Tin. After the electrification of the Line between 1979 and 1983, the East Rail now carries over 730 thousand passengers daily.

Ma On Shan Railway has been opened on 21 December 2004. The 11.4 km long railway has 9 stations linking Ma On Shan and the vicinity of Tai Wai.

At present, there are over 110 routes of public bus servicing Sha Tin.