Office space in Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong

Shau Kei Wan takes its name from a rice washing basket, the shape Aldrich Bay once had. It sits at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, with Sai Wan Ho to the west, Chai Wan to the east and Mount Parker behind. Boats were sheltering here from storms by the early eighteenth century, and about 1,200 people lived in the bay by 1841, most of them on fishing boats.

The fishing trade never left. The wholesale fish market here is the second largest in Hong Kong, and Tam Kung Temple still pulls a festival crowd. Above the district, the fort of 1887 on Tung Hei Road is now the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence.

The offices are one building. Eastern Central Plaza at 3 Yiu Hing Road went up in 1996 and runs to about 300,000 square feet, on the harbour side near the typhoon shelter. Ooosh runs the centre inside it. The tram terminus a few minutes away has been the eastern end of the line since 1904.

Shau Kei Wan station is 450 metres from Eastern Central Plaza, about six minutes on foot, on the Island line. Central is ten stops west, about 18 minutes with no change, and Admiralty is nine.

Quarry Bay is three stops west and Tai Koo is two. Chai Wan, one stop east, is where the line ends. The tram runs the whole north shore to Kennedy Town from the terminus nearby, and buses take the Island Eastern Corridor. For the airport, ride to Central and change for Hong Kong station and the Airport Express.

Shau Kei Wan works for a firm whose people live at the eastern end of the island. Shau Kei Wan, Sai Wan Ho, Chai Wan and Heng Fa Chuen form a solid band of housing, so for much of a local team the commute becomes a walk instead of a train ride.

It works for a business tied to the fish and food trade, with the city's second largest wholesale fish market next door.

And it works for a small team that wants its own room without paying harbour front rents. A room for four is about HK$15,000 a month, and one or two people can start on a coworking desk from around HK$3,000 in the same building.

Shau Kei Wan is ten stops from Central, about 18 minutes, and the line ends one stop further at Chai Wan. Nobody passes through on the way to somewhere else, so clients will not drop in.

There is also exactly one centre. If it does not fit, the district has no second option, and the nearest choice is three stops west.

Quarry Bay is three stops west. It opens at HK$3,100 for one person across seven centres, so it has the choice Shau Kei Wan lacks. Shau Kei Wan is a hidden district on this site, and its listings also appear under Quarry Bay.

North Point is five stops west and opens highest of the three, at HK$6,400 for one person. The draw there is a high floor and a harbour view.

Central is ten stops away and ten times the profile. A room for four there averages around HK$23,105, against about HK$15,000 here.

The district has a new reason to visit. The government renamed the old coastal defence museum on Tung Hei Road on 3 September 2024 and opened it the next day as the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence, with a new gallery inside.

The offices still have room. Grade A vacancy across Hong Kong East was 13.0% at the end of July 2026, against 8.0% in Central and 12.8% for the city as a whole, so landlords out here still have space to talk about.