Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

Good news for those people who want a 24 hour taxi on Park Island. Up until now, taxis are only allowed between 8pm at night to 7am in the morning. It seems this is about to change The latest Park Island residents newsletter notes that the majority of residents polled in a questionnaire by the Transport Department voted in favour of permanent taxi access. Whilst it is accepted that permanent taxi access might increase property values by 5%, the concern some residents have is that more access would make the island less exclusive, and more accessible by non-residents. There also also those who feel taxis are no eco-friendly, and that we should continue to encourage only mass public transport such as the buses and ferries. It seems a decision will be made in the next few months. There was also some talk of putting an electric car charging station on the island and then letting electric cars and hybrids access the island. On another note, the sky over park island was full of ...

I thought it would be interesting to compare the official data with my own observations. According to the most recent Hong Kong Government Census data: -The average is 33 years old. This seems somewhat young to me, but I think the data must be skewed as so many people with children live on Park Island. With so many families with kids 1 to 10 years of age on the island, I think this must bring the average age well down. Also many air hostess live on the island, and they must range between 22-30 years of age, -The average employment income for Park Island residents is double the average for Hong Kong, and the average household income Park Island residents is triple the the average for Hong Kong. At first these figures seem a surprise. One would think that the wealthy people live in the Mid Levels in Hong Kong (and I am sure they do). But the reason why Park Island ranks well above average is probably because this is all private apartments (not Government housing) and probably because ...

There is an article here in Chinese http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/101117/4/lb1q.html  which reports that a luxury apartment sold a few days ago on Park Island for over 10,000 per square foot at HKD $19.75m. The apartment is 1880 square foot, 33rd floor, block 31. It comes with an 800 square foot balcony, and access to the rooftop and fully open views. No doubt amazing for entertaining etc. This is a new record for Park Island, and to me confirms the changing profile of people who are moving to Park Island.

I got this article below from a property magazine in HK called Square Foot. It was published in 2008. I have made some additions of my own ( in bold italics). Background In the early days, most Park Island purchasers were investors looking to make a quick profit, but today 90 percent are buying for their own use. The property market is still behind that of other parts of Hong Kong but it is moving up slowly. My observation is that this is as correct in 2010 as it was in 2008.    By way of an introduction, for those not familiar with it, Park Island Estate on Ma Wan is best described as Discovery Bay's baby brother. It has also been described as "Like DB but more Chinese" and "Like DB but classier and cleaner". Brought into being by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd in 2002, it covers over 1.3 million square feet, and is now into its 31st phase. The final phase of apartments is due to be launched in Q1 or Q2 of 2011. After that, no further supply of apartments will be...

Park Island is connected by an excellent modern highway that connects to the Hong Kong Airport on Lantau Island, and to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. See below Park Island on Google maps: To get to Park Island, you can use public transport such as a buses or ferries. Private busses also drive to Park Island (eg for school groups, or tours visiting the Noah's Arc). And service vehicles are also allowed (eg for furniture and goods deliveries). Originally, as part of Park Island's eco-friendly clean air policy, taxis were banned from the island. However on 3 July 2008, the Goverment made changes to the policy and decided to allows taxis are now permitted to enter from 8pm to 7am in the morning. Any resident living on Park Island has the phone number of a "discount taxi" that offers 15-20% off normal rates. Park Island does have the space for private parking, and so there is often speculation as to when (or whether) private cars will be allowed on Ma Wan. Many Park I...

For anyone considering buying property on Park Island, here is a website that the developer Sun Hung Kai used when they first launched the development. http://parkisland.com.hk/ The Park Island website shows the Park Island Club Houses, photos of views, information on transport to Park Island, and communmity actvities on Ma Wan island.

After my morning coffee, I went down to the beach, and had a sleep for an hour or so. Then I went for another swim. Then I went back to my apartment and did a few emails. Had pizza and a few beers for a late afternoon brunch/early dinner. Now chilling with a cold beer on my balcony. Here's a pic of the sun setting over the ocean: View of Hong Kong Ocean from Ma Wan Nice huh? In the distance you can see the ocean and the setting sun shining down. Then, closer to the  bottom of the picture you can see some shrimp farms, and at the bottom are the houses of the Ma Wan village (in that area you can go and eat nice local sea food). Have a great week ahead everyone! Good night from Park Island!

- Got up at 6am, and saw the sun slowly rising from my balcony. (No hangover from drinks the German Restaurant last night, thanks to good quality German dark beer). - Went for a beach run, a swim, and then a hike around the back of Ma Wan island. - Got back, showered, made a fruit smoothie and had some cereal. - The weather is perfect right now. Around 25 degrees is my guess, nice sunshine, and clear sky. I am about to go the cafe on the beach for a morning coffee, and to read the papar.

Still quite calm on park island, but a whole crane apparently was blown over on Tsing Yi, whcih is very close to here. I saw some clips on the news. Amazing how wind can do that.

A typhoon is heading towards Hong Kong, and so this will be my first typhoon on Park Island. The building here seem very solid and well constucted, but still it will be interesting to see how windy it really gets here. In each building lobby, the security guards put up signs warning about the typhoon. It was a level 1, now its a 3. Apparently it will hit a level 8 by tonight (or Signal 8 typhoon as the local people refer to it as). I will be watching from my window. Much of Hong Kong closes when we have a typhoon, but I think all the facilities on park island will be kept open (expect perhaps for the outdoor pools - lucky we still have indoor pools we can use!) Here is a link where you can get Hong Kong typhoon updates: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm  and you can track the typhoon's progress here: http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/tc_pos.htm

 Park Island  In this photo of Ma Wan you can see the main apartment complex development on Park Island. The smaller houses are part of the village, and the tall buildings are the modern apartment buildings. As you can see, the views from the apartment buildings is fantastic. You can also see the ferry terminal and the bridges that connect Park Island to Hong Kong.

I must say, the building management on Park Island is among the best I have ever seen in Hong Kong. All of the Park Island complex and resort facilities are managed by: Kai Shing Management Services Limited Park Island Management Services Office Tel : 29863800 Fax : 29863899 The Office is on the right side up the escalator steps quite close to where the Ferry Terminal is. I am not sure, but I suspect they might be a subsidiary company of Sun Hung Kai. Every security guard at the lobby of each building seems very well dressed, helpful, and professionally trained. The only criticism I have is that for some of them, their English is not great, but that is of course to be expected, given what they are paid. The flowers and gardens around Park Island are kept in immaculate condition. Indeed some people would say that everything looks almost too perfect! You never ever see any rubbish on Park Island - again, the cleaners are doing a fantastic job. Even the main beach on Park Island is ...

On weekends many visitors from other parts of HK come to visit Park Island. Some come by bus, and others take the ferry. What do visitors do on Park Island? -They go to one of the beaches and swim, and sunbathe. -They go to some of the many bars, restaurants or cafes. Especially popular are the ones that face out over the beach. -They visit some of the parks and nature reserves on Park Island, or go hiking. -Some will bring their dogs, and let their dogs run free on some of the beaches designated as "dog beaches" where dogs are allowed to run freely. -Spa and massage - Park Island has some top end spas, where a massage will cost you around HKD $700. On the village in Ma Wan, you can get traditional foot massages for around HKD $80 an hour. -Seafood - thoes in the know, will visit one of the many local Chinese resataurants in the village part of the island. The crabs, seafood, steamed fish, shrimps, etc are all excellent. -Visit Noah's Ark. This theme park is supri...

I love sunshine, and I like it on the beach when it warm, but not burning hot. So, right now the weather in HK is perfect :) I am right now at a cafe that overlooks the beach on Ma Wan (with internet acess), with a glass of fresh orange juice, and a pizza on the way. During the week, not many people visit the beach and its mainly Park Island residents on the island. But on the weekends its packed with lots of visitors from other parts of HK coming over (some to enjoy the beach, and other to sightsee and visit the Noah's Ark theme park.. Both is fine with me - I like it quiet, but also fun to join the crowds in the weekend (and the weekends are surely good for the local shops here). What I really like about the Park Island, is that unlike many of Hong Kong's best beaches, where you need to travel a lon time to get to (and then often with no facilities), the beach is only 2 mins away from my apartment. For those of you worried about sharks, I should add that Park Island has o...

This is the first of a weekly blog about Park Island, in Hong Kong. I am going to provide commentary on what its like to live on Park Island, and especially Park Island for expats living in Hong Kong. Ma Wan or 馬灣 in Chinese ) is an island which is part of Hong Kong. Park Island is  located between Lantau Islan and Tsing Yi . Park Island is part of the Tsuen Wan District. The best known beach on the island is Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach. In the last 250 years Ma Wan was a fishing village and until recently it was only accessible by boats or ferries. Things changes on Park Island when the Lantau Link was constructed in the late1990s which connected the new Hong Kong International Airport to the city centre on Hong Kong Island. The highway link passed through Ma Wan, and a ambitious plans to build a luxury property development were launched. The first phase of Park Island was completed in July 2003, and now phases 2, 3 and 5 have already ...