Port of Hong Kong, Commercial port in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong

The Port of Hong Kong is a large commercial harbor facility in Kwai Chung with multiple container terminals spread across several locations including Stonecutters Island and Tsing Yi. The facility features numerous berths and extensive waterfront areas where large container ships are loaded and unloaded.

Ming-era incense from Lantau was packed and processed at Sha Lo Wan, then shipped via Aberdeen's Shek Pai Wan to Guangzhou. After Hong Kong opened as a port in 1841, trade with China and overseas became its commercial base, and the Hung Hom dockyard grew into one of Asia's largest. Kwai Tsing's nine container terminals later made Hong Kong the world's busiest container port from 1992 to 2004.

The port's name is tied to Hong Kong's early trade: when agarwood from Lantau was still abundant in the Ming dynasty, fragrant wood was packed and processed at Sha Lo Wan, shipped to Shek Pai Wan in Aberdeen, then forwarded to the entrepôt now called Guangzhou. Chekhov passed through by sea from Vladivostok in 1890, and Einstein stopped in Hong Kong in late 1922 or early 1923.

The terminals are spread across multiple islands and coastal areas, so it helps to have a map or research beforehand which areas are open to visitors. Keep in mind this is an active industrial zone, so visitor access is limited and certain areas cannot be entered.

Hong Kong was the world's busiest container port from 1987 to 1989, 1992 to 1997 and 1999 to 2004. In 2007 it handled a record 23.9 million TEUs, and about 456,000 vessels arrived and departed that year. In July 2020 the HMM Gdansk, then the world's largest container vessel, made its maiden call at Kwai Tsing Terminal 7.