YAU MA TEI Sample Clauses

YAU MA TEI. The name “Yau Ma Tei” means Oil Sesame Ground, and at some time sesame was cultivated in the vicinity. The settlement at Yau Ma Tei grew up at the foot of a curving hill, the arms of which extended into the sea as headlands both on the north (Mong Xxx Xxxx, near today’s Dundas Street) and in the south (the southern headland was near what is now Battery Street). There was an old Chinese fort on this hill from about 1800, which was rebuilt in 1839 and designed to protect vessels sheltering in the anchorage. Between the two headlands, the line of the hill ran close to what is now Xxxxxx Road, and the old excavated face of the hill can still be seen near Cliff Street. Between the two headlands was a beach opening at the southern end to the anchorage creek. On either side of a small stream a tiny agricultural village of two or three houses stood. It was this beach and creek which attracted the boat population, who used it to repair their vessels and as a shelter against storms. In 1882, this creek was described as: “ a sort of mud dock which dries at half ebb or a little later. This is occupied by many boats, some of which are too leaky or old to go out, and lie here permanently being used as dwellings. This causes serious nuisance”. In 1883, the Sanitary Board condemned this creek as a nuisance. By about 1885 it had disappeared, as a consequence of reclamation in the area. After that date, it seems likely that there was no shelter for small boats in West Kowloon until the typhoon shelter opened in 1915. Figure 8 shows the layout of Yau Ma Tei in 1875. To the north of the Xxxx Xxx Xxxx xxxxxxxx a stream flowed into the sea (near the present Soy Street). On either side of this stream there were cultivated fields belonging to the village of Mongkok, already over a 100 years old in 1860. Mongkok village stood to the north of the stream under what today are Mongkok Road and Fife Street. To the south of the Battery Street Headland was another stream, which entered the sea near today’s Waterloo Road. Like the stream to the north, it had cultivated fields on both sides. In 1864, the Hong Kong Government offered land along the Yau Ma Tei shore to villagers whose homes in Xxx Xxx Xxxx had been removed for redevelopment. The dispossessed villagers also received “Squatters Licences” for the lots they were given. Many took advantage of the opportunity and within months a thriving new market village had developed. The first detailed evidence that provides information regard...