Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

It used to be relatively accepted thinking that Hong Kong would never get a casino as "the Jockey Club has a monopoly on gambling in Hong Kong". And historically, and before China yielded a greater influence over Hong Kong this was pretty much a given. Indeed, the HKJC was (and still is) a strong lobbyist against any form of competition, and was (and still is) backed by many people of power and influence from the pre-1997 colonial era. Hong Kong already has "floating casino boats", and many Hong Kong citizens these days simply gamble on-line, or through more traditional Chinese triad associated shadow "gambling facilitators" (who take bets, lend money, pay out money, and when needed, collect money via various methods). And right next to Hong Kong we of course have the gambling mecca of Asia, Macau (where many casino companies are actually listed in Hong Kong, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("HKSE") including Sands China, Galaxy ...

Below are some new photos of the old Chinese village on Ma Wan. To get there, head towards the Noah's Arc main entrance. Near the man-made "nature park", you will see a path. This leads down to the village, so follow that down.  I already did a previous post about the Ma Wan old village here: http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/03/old-village-on-ma-wan.html Below are some photos of the old village on Ma Wan I took on a recent hike, this time with a better camera. This Ma Wan village house must have looked nice in its prime! Banana trees on Ma Wan  Ma Wan Old Village Are you wondering what on earth that strange white building in the backround is? That is the new Solar Tower being built on Ma Wan. It will apparently be used as Hong Kong's leading astronomy observation center. I presume they chose Ma Wan for the cleaner air and less light pollution, but I would think that no-where in Hong Kong is really ideal for astronomic observation. ...

I noticed the possible redevelopment of the Ma Wan old village area is being discussed among Park Island expats on the Ma Wan Network Facebook Group. It seems that the old village will likely be developed with low density housing (ie 3-level villas or houses) and commercial, recreational and tourism facilities (my guess is perhaps a hotel, marina, restaurants along the beach, etc). See below some details about what may be coming: Draft Ma Wan Outline Zoning Plan approved. The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Ma Wan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Ma Wan area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (June 12). The Planning Scheme Area covers about 101 hectares of land comprising Ma Wan and Tang Lung Chau. Ma Wan is situated between Tsing Yi and Tsing Chau Tsai Peninsula in northeast Lantau, about five kilometres from Tsuen Wan...