Tai Kok Tsui

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Tai Kok Tsui (Traditional Chinese:大角嘴 or 大角咀) is an area west of Mong Kok in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The mixed land use of industrial and residential is present in the old area. The Cosmopolitan Dock and oil depots are found there. Blocks of high-rise residential buildings have been erected in the newly reclaimed area.

[edit] Demography

Most of the residents in Tai Kok Tsui are senior citizens and children, and there are some immigrants from Mainland China as well.

[edit] Coast and reclamation

The Chinese character Tsui (嘴) in Tai Kok Tsui implies that the area was originally an elongated cape on the west side of Kowloon Peninsula. The cove between the cape and Kowloon Peninsula was reclaimed during the period of 1867–1904. More reclamation along its shore took place during the period of 1904–1924 and more covered its tip during the period of 1924–1945. Minor reclamation was needed during the period 1964–1982 when the Tai Kok Tsui Ferry Pier (大角嘴碼頭) was built. The launch of the Airport Core Programme in the 1990s gave rise to substantial reclamation as well as revitalisation of the district. Although part of Tai Kok Tsui, the newly reclaimed area in the 1990s is sometimes referred to as The Olympics due to the nearby MTR Station opened in 1998, and the Olympian City shopping centre.

[edit] History

Before any reclamation, Tai Kok Tsui is geographically a long island of Hong Kong of granite linked by an isthmus at its north to Kowloon Peninsula. The long granite hill divided the reclamation in its east and dock area in the west in 1924. The tip of the cape hosted the Asia oil tanks. The area was mainly for dock facilities at this period as reflected in present-day Anchor Street. The Cosmopolitan Dock survived till 1960s which is now Cosmopolitan Estate (大同新邨).