Tsim Sha Tsui
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TSTClockTower.jpg
Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙嘴; Cantonese Jyutping: zim1 sa1 zeoi2</font>, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiānshāzǔi) or simply TST is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District of southern Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tsim Sha Tsui is a major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many shops and restaurants that cater to tourists. Additionally, the Hong Kong government has declared a small section of a pedestrianised street in Tsim Sha Tsui a duty-free zone (though this has no effect on the prices of anything but tobacco and alcohol, since Hong Kong does not have sales tax or tariff).
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Features
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Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Tsim Sha Tsui also has the most concentrated number of hotels in any district in Hong Kong. Prominent hotels include The Peninsula, the InterContinental Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, as well as the Hyatt Regency. In addition to these, there are countless others in virtually every price range, and level of luxury.
The Chungking Mansions (as featured in the film Chungking Express), a building full of cheap (but dirty) guest houses, Indian restaurants, and money changers, is also in Tsim Sha Tsui. This is located on Nathan Road, the southern end of which lies within Tsim Sha Tsui.
There is a public library and public park (Kowloon Park) complete with swimming pools in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre are located at the southern waterfront.
Tsim Sha Tsui was once the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR). After the Hong Kong Section of the railway was opened for traffic on 1 October 1910, the construction of the railway station in Tsim Sha Tsui started in 1913 and the clock tower was completed in 1915 as part of the railway station. The main building of the Tsim Sha Tsui station was demolished in 1978. The station was relocated to Hung Hom for expansion, and to make way for the Space Museum and the Cultural Centre. But the clock tower was not demolished and was kept in place. It is all that remains standing of the original Tsim Sha Tsui station of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. The clock tower is 44m high surmounted by a 7m lightning rod. It is now surrounded by the public piazza of the Cultural Centre and has become a landmark of Hong Kong.
Some six pillars of the railway have been reloacted to the Urban Council Centennial Park in TST East. The Avenue of Stars starts at the "New World Centre" shopping mall near the Cultural Centre.
Tsim Sha Tsui East
TST East (尖沙嘴東 or simply 尖東) is an area east of Chatham Road South reclaimed from Hung Hom Bay in the 1970s. Many restaurants, office buildings and hotels are located in TST East. The Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade links the area with the Cultural Centre near the clock tower. In 2004 KCR's East Rail opened a new station East Tsim Sha Tsui, an interchange station with Tsim Sha Tsui station on the MTR Tsuen Wan Line. Unlike other KCR stations, it is underground.
The Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Science Museum are located in this area.
Transportation
Tsim Sha Tsui is served by the MTR station of the same name, on the Template:Tsuen Wan Line. The Star Ferry connects TST to Central and Wanchai .
The KCR East Rail was extended from Hung Hom to East Tsim Sha Tsui in late 2004. The Discovery Bay Ferry has a service from the Promenade to Edinburgh Place, Central.
Various hydrofoil services out of the China Ferry Terminal on Canton Road link Tsim Sha Tsui to Macau, Guangzhou, and several other places in the Pearl River Delta.
Other places in Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui East
- Hong Kong Observatory
- Former Marine Police Headquarters Compound
- Avenue of Stars
- Ocean Terminal
- Harbour City
- Wing On Plaza Garden