Once-tranquil towns being transformed by major shopping malls for tourists
New Territories residents bemoan the effect of tourism in the final part of our series on capacity
Residents in the New Territories have expressed frustration over what they see as the transformation of their communities into major shopping districts, with malls increasingly geared towards the surging number of tourists flooding into the city.
With the government forecasting 100 million visitors a year by 2023, research by the South China Morning Post shows 60 per cent of retailers with outlets at Causeway Bay's Times Square - one of the most popular malls with mainland tourists - have extended their presence to Sha Tin, and some to Tuen Mun.
Can residential areas in New Territories handle mainland tourists?
A few years ago such middle-market and high-end branded retailers were a rare sight outside downtown areas, but mainlanders opting to do their shopping in the new towns of the New Territories have lured them north.
"Tuen Mun is more convenient. I needn't travel all the way to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, where there are too many people," said Li Pingping, who lives in Shenzhen's Nanshan district near the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, just 20 minutes away from Tuen Mun Town Plaza by bus.