Cha Kwo Ling

Cha Kwo Ling Village was established before Hong Kong became a British colony. Cha Kwo Ling became a major Hakka settlement after the establishment of Victoria City in 1841. The foundation of city drew a large demand of stone. Skillful Hakka people set up a quarry in the stone-rich Cha Kwo Ling. It was one of four quarry hills and one of the 13 major village districts in eastern New Kowloon. The usage of new building materials later made the demand for stone drop. The population profile changed during the Civil War in China, when penniless refugees from mainland China settled in and around the original mining village, building makeshift shacks in a maze of dark alleys. At its peak between the 1950s and the 1970s, the village had a population of about 20,000. Between 1983 and 2006, three big fires burned down many of the squatter houses and many villagers were relocated to public housing estates. ==Features==

, across Victoria Harbour. There is a Tin Hau Temple along Cha Kwo Ling Road, next to Cha Kwo Ling Village. Initially built near the coast in Cha Kwo Ling in 1825, during the Qing Dynasty, it was destroyed by a typhoon in 1912. The image of Tin Hau was then transferred to a shack nearby and remained there for thirty years. A new temple was built on the old site in 1941 with funds raised by the local villagers of Si Shan (, literally "four hills" composing four villages in the area, namely, Lei Yue Mun, Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Tso Wan and Cha Kwo Ling). However, the temple was demolished in 1947 to give way for the construction of an oil tank of Asiatic Petroleum Company (South China) Limited. The building is constructed of granite blocks, which is uncommon in Hong Kong. Its roofs have been covered with brown ceramic tiles in a 1999 renovation. ==Education==

Cha Kwo Ling is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 48. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Kwun Tong Government Primary School. ==Transport==

The nearest MTR stations are Lam Tin station and Yau Tong station. Minibus lines connect Cha Kwo Ling to the stations. ==References==