Lok Ma Chau

Lok Ma Chau (落馬洲) is a small, somewhat remote area in the Yuen Long District, New Territories very near to the border of Mainland China to the South of Sham Chun/Shenzhen River. To the Southwest of the sleepy and tranquil villages of Lok Ma Chau is the Mai Po Wetlands and to the North is the Lok Ma Chau Loop - which is a bare area of land with no road, water, sewage or power connections. It was originally part of Mainland China up until the late 1990s after portions of the Sham Chun/Shenzhen River were straightened out by the Shenzhen government to prevent flooding. Despite a lack of infrastructure in the Lok Ma Chau Loop, the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments are intending to jointly develop a low carbon community and large scale innovation and technology park in the area. It will be the largest of its kind and 4 times larger than the existing Hong Kong Science park. Although the new hi-tech park may take more than 7 years to complete, some industry experts are suggesting that the areas either side of the border are set to gain from a property market boom and an improved flow of people and money.