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How to get to Tsim Sha Tsui

As the most southerly part of the Kowloon peninsular the Tsim Sha Tsui district, most often known simply as TST ("pronounced tee-ess-tee"), is easily reached from either side of the Victoria Harbour. Having been a major transportation cross roads for more than a hundred years there is no shortage of ways to enter or leave the district.

Tsim Sha Tsui from Victoria Peak

Green Minibus

Travel like a local Hong Konger and take Green Minibus #1 from the terminus outside The Peak Tower and ride it down the side of the mountain and into Central, alighting at Pedder Street, near MTR exit.  This is a long and winding ride but quite interesting.  Enter the MTR system and go down until you find the platform for the Kwung Tung Line towards Kowloon.  The trip is just two stops to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station, with no changing of trains.

Bus

Use the CityBus or NWFB number 15 as far as Pacific Place, Queensway and stop there.  Get into the MTR system at the Admiralty MTR Station which is beneath Pacific Place, it is a long walk through the shopping mall but quite comfortable.

Inside the MTR look for trains towards Kwung Tong, and it is just one stop taking less than 5 minutes to arrive in TST MTR Station.

Peak Tram

If you haven't yet been on the Peak Tram, or if you have and purchased a return ticket, then of course going down the mountainside on the Peak Tram is the right thing to do.  When you alight at the Peak Tram Lower Terminus it seems rather to be in the middle of nowhere, beside a main road with nothing commercial or shops about. 

Either walk downhill along Garden Road until you see signs for the MTR and follow the instructions above for Bus, or go under the flyover and follow signs for Hong Kong Park, then walk through the Park.  While a nicer walk this one has uphill sections and is not all downhill.

 

Tsim Sha Tsui from Chep Lap Kok Airport

There is one easy way to reach TST from the airport, and that is using the fast Airport Express train.  The train platforms are inside the arrivals hall at the Airport and you can walk directly onto the train.  While ticket machines are available you don't need till buy a ticket until you get off the train and your destination, so if a train is just about to leave feel free to get onto the train without a ticket and buy one later.

The Airport Express runs ever 12 minutes and takes just 20 minutes to reach Tsim Sha Tsui.  Get off the train at the Kowloon station which is a modern housing the W Hotel and the ICC, currently the tallest building in Hong Kong, and a large shopping mall called Elements Mall.

Follow signs for the bus terminus and from there take any one of the many busses that go past into the center of the Tsim Sha Tsui district, 110 or 973 run by CityBus/NWFB, or of the KMB busses  numbers 8, 215X or 281A will all work fine.

It is also possible to go directly from the airport to the Peninsular hotel via helicopter, the trip takes only 10 minutes but costs HK$17,000 for a one way trip so not for those travelling on a budget.

 

Tsim Sha Tsui from Disneyland

There are a few alternative routes from the Hong Kong Disneyland to TST but they all start with leaving Disneyland via the Disneyland Resort Line railway, which is how most people also arrive. The resort railway takes you as far as the Sunny Bay MTR Station on the Tung Chung Line where you should have to that line and go towards the city as far as Nam Cheong Station. 

This small station, which has a surprisingly nice open green park nearby outside if  you want an open-air break, is the interchange with the West Rail Line.  Running every 8 minutes the trains on this line are often at ground level, but being in completely enclosed tunnels give the impression of being underground.

Ride the train until the East Tsim Sha Tsui Station and leave the station at one of the conveniently placed exits including K if heading for Nathan Road or J if the waterfront promenade is your destination.

For more information about HK Disneyland read this guide.

 

Tsim Sha Tsui from Ocean Park

Take the 629 CityBus from directly outside the park entrance to it's terminus at Admiralty. When alighting from the bus you are directly next to the MTR entrance for Admiralty MTR station.

Enter the station and take the Kwung Tong line just one stop to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station.

 

Tsim Sha Tsui from Stanley Market

For the most direct route take Green minibus #40 from the bus stop over the road just outside the market as far as Causeway Bay, and ask to alight as soon as you see the MTR which will be around SOGO department store. 

Enter the MTR via the department store basement and take the Island Line towards Central but change trains before you get there to the Kwung Tong line at Admiralty.  It is then just one stop on that line to TST.

 

 

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsimshatsui?

In Chinese the district is called 尖沙嘴, which literally means Tip Sand Mouth, and is a reference to the sandy river which once flowed here, long since covered by land reclamation.  The pronunciation is impossible to describe using Roman letters alone, some attempts include Jim Shar Joy and Chim Sa Choi but none are of course accurate, and it is very hard for a non Chinese native to pronounce the words correctly.  Hence the common abriviation into TST - sounded out as "tee-ess-tee".  Everybody in Hong Kong will understand if you say TST.

When it comes to writing you will see Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsimshatsui used equally, both are acceptable.  But not Tsimsha Tsui or Tsim Shatsui, that would be incorrect.  However you say or write it, TST is a fascinating place to be.

Pronunciation

 


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