Sha Tin - Sandy Fields - is a sprawling development built either side of the Shing Mun River; Sha Tin KCR is the station for the town itself.

Home to more than half a million people, it’s a good place to experience life in a New Town, especially in shopping malls such as New Town Plaza, which offers a view of modern local life and manners: it’s solidly Chinese, with crowded shops and good-value restaurants full of local families.

Aside from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, the town’s bestknown sight is the Sha Tin Racecourse (Racecourse KCR; open race days only; www.shatinracetrack.com), some 3km northeast. Along with Happy Valley, this is the only legal outlet for betting in Hong Kong, despite the local Chinese obsession with wagering varying amounts of their pay packet. It’s packed on race days during the season (Sept-June), with meetings held on Wednesday evenings or Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Entry is $10, or you can visit with the Hong Kong Tourist Board’s Come Horseracing Tour ($540-790 depending on the event), which gets you into VIP-only parts of the enclosure: you need to be over 18 and have been in Hong Kong for less than three weeks - take your passport to any HKTB office at least a day before the race. The biggest annual event is the Hong Kong Derby in March, a two-kilometre race for four-year-olds, which attracts an international crowd.