Kwai Tsing District came into being in 1988, with the amalgamation of industrial Kwai Chung in the New Territories and the green, hilly island of Tsing Yi.

Like much of the New Territories, Kwai Chung was once a rural area, but following World War Two, it became a hub of heavy industry. In the 1980s and 1990s many of the factories that had found a home in coastal Kwai Chung moved to Mainland China, though Kwai Tsing remains Hong Kong’s key port facility, and one of the busiest container terminals in the world.

Shipping and logistics companies now coexist with the artists and creative businesses that have moved into the area, taking advantage of the spacious units available at good prices in well-worn factory buildings, and making them their studios. While shiny new office buildings have risen from the dust of the area’s industry, innovators and entrepreneurs are hard at work behind heavy cast-iron doors within the sprawling industrial towers, adding another distinctive feather to Kwai Chung’s character.

Across the Rambler Channel, Tsing Yi Island, thought to be named after a fish once common in the waters surrounding it, has also experienced a transformation. Once home to the stilted huts still found in Lantau Island’s Tai O village, it is now a major connecting point for Hong Kong’s transport infrastructure, with the Ting Kau and Tsing Ma bridges linking it to the New Territories and to Lantau Island. Significantly expanded due to land reclamation, its industrial western edge is separated from its more residential eastern side by the 334-metre Tsing Yi Peak, adding some greenery to this most urban of districts.