Siu Ho Wan, Torbury

Siu Ho Wan (Traditional Chinese: 小蠔灣; 2020 population 4,061) is a town in northern Pinecross-Do of the Free State of Torbury. Located on the western banks of the Inner Torbury Bay at the mouth of Hung Shui Wai River, the town is bounded north by the megacity of Torbury.

Etymology
Siu Ho Wan is named after an area of the same name of Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

History
Siu Ho Wan has long been a place with regional significance owing to its strategic geographic location. At the mouth where Torbury River widens into the Inner Torbury Bay, all trade ships sailing into the largest city in the area, Torbury City, must first pass through the Siu Ho Wan area. In the ancient days, Siu Ho Wan has been used as a centre of quarantine and customs station, before allowing trade ships to sail into the city of Torbury.

It is unclear when the village of Siu Ho Wan has first been established, but archaeological evidence suggests that the initial village existed no earlier than the 16th century.

Into the modern era, Siu Ho Wan remained as a remote village due to its lack of road and rail connection to the free state.

Siu Ho Wan became an area of prime residence and a bedroom community when the Human Transit Corporation built the Torbury-to-Bay City rail link, selecting Siu Ho Wan as a midway stop in the 1960s. This makes commute into the largest city of the free state, Torbury City, very convenient. In the 1970s, real estate developers marketed the area as a town where rural living meets urban lifestyle, and condos sprang up along the waterfront in the decade that followed. Real estate prices remained cheap, however, as the town relies solely on a rail connection to the rest of the free state.

In 1989, the Jane Street fixed link between Gong Sin Wan and Siu Ho Wan was completed. This allowed direct vehicular access into the town. A new bus route, 235A, was introduced to the area to allow easy commute into Pinecross. Ferry services to nearby oil rigs was also made possible in the 1990s, further promoting Siu Ho Wan as a bedroom community among workers of the oil industry.

In 2015, the municipal government began residential projects on Point Roberts, an exclave of the municipality that has direct land access to the megacity of Torbury. The Free State government has also invested in constructing the largest ferry dock of the free state on Point Roberts, the Siu Ho Wan Peninsula Public Pier. The Public Pier serves as an impounding centre, command centre for marine police, as well as any unloading and loading for cargo ships bound for Torbury. A shuttle bus connection (HTC route 55) to Torbury Chemical Plant Terminal was also introduced.

Today, the town continues to experience rapid growth and emerges as a popular bedroom community for the megacity of Torbury and the city of Pinecross, as well as playing an important role as a transportation hub in the Free State.

Geography
Siu Ho Wan occupies a small strip of land east of the Human Transit Corporation rails, as well as a small portion of the peninsula, locally known as Point Roberts. Point Roberts is the estuary and land spit between Hung Shui Wai and Torbury rivers as they empty into Inner Torbury Bay.

The town has an area of 6.6 squared kilometres, though only roughly one-third is on land.

Demography
In the 2020 Census, Siu Ho Wan has reported a population of 4,061, which was a 8.4% increase compared to the numbers in 2015.

Transportation

 * mTrain : 802/802A (stops at Siu Ho Wan mTrain Station)
 * HTC bus: 55, 235A/235B