The town planners got something right in Ma On Shan. On sunny days, streams of joggers, cyclists and strollers - many with strollers - wend their way up the waterfront promenade along Tolo Harbour. As the afternoon draws in, the sun sets slowly behind the Pat Sin Leng range and, on clear days, behind the Observatory's weather radar 'golf ball' on Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's tallest peak.
Like most New Territories 'new towns', Ma On Shan can be vertically challenging, but it does have its merits. You can make the most of the sea views by claiming one of the handful of window tables in the Crystal Harbour Restaurant, below the Horizon Suite Hotel.
Originally an afterthought of an extension to Sha Tin, Ma On Shan - and, in particular, the microcosm around On Chun Street - appears to have been planned with families in mind. Next to the waterfront Ma On Shan Park, there's a swimming pool complex, with four big slides and water fountains in the shape of a crocodile and a whale. Opposite, a baseball diamond sits in apparent disuse.
At the two-tower Marbella (23 On Chun Street), Chinachem is still selling 'new' apartments, despite the 37-floor building having been on the market for almost a decade. Agents say there are some 36 never-inhabited flats for sale. At about HK$6,000 per square foot, prices are what now pass for mid-range in Hong Kong, and they do come with decent sea views.
The first public-housing estates here were built in the 1980s and there were several monster developments in the 90s - such as Sunshine City, which has more than 5,000 apartments. The popularity of the area picked up towards the 2004 opening of the Ma On Shan MTR line.
Fittingly, given Chinachem's involvement and its chairwoman, Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's, fixation with fung shui, the town has an auspicious setting, with a mountain at its back and the sea in front. Ma On Shan, or 'horse-saddle mountain', is the dip-shaped range that climbs 700 metres into the country park behind the sliver of concrete along the coast. The hills were known for their muntjac deer and the white azalea found on the higher slopes.
Nearby, Whitehead - now home to a golfing range - was a detention centre for Vietnamese refugees for a decade until it closed in 1998. It is difficult to find anyone who can remember who or what Whitehead was named after.