Tung Chung – a fact file

• Tung Chung means “eastern stream”.

• Speaking of streams, there are many in the area, nearly all of them with a name that features the word “lung”, Chinese for “dragon”.

• The area was once a defence outpost protecting the coast from pirates. The remains of Tung Chung Fort – which today are home to a public school – include six intact cannons.

• Tung Chung is an example of a “new town”, which the HK government began developing in the 1950s to deal with the rising population. Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tung were among the first new towns developed. Tung Chung is one of the most recent, with the first housing developments only finished in 1997. Notably, its first phases were built on reclaimed land, as part of the new airport project.

• Tung Chung marks the starting point for the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, which takes passengers to Lantau’s Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery.