Yau Ma Ti 油麻地 (HK)
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Yau Ma Tei is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 (originally written as 油蔴地) in Cantonese. It can also be spelt as Yaumatei, Yau Ma Ti, Yaumati or Yau-ma-Tee. Yau (油) literally means "oil", Ma (麻 or 蔴) can either refer to "sesame" or "jute", and Tei (地) means "field" or "open ground". Hence, Yau Ma Tei can be interpreted to mean either "oil-sesame field" or "oil and jute ground". This dual-interpretation is perhaps the reason why there are two explanations for the origin of the place name.
Yau Ma Ti Post Office ('Yaumati District Branch Post Office') was opened in Waterloo Road near its intersection with Shanghai Street [油麻地窩打老道近上海街] 1915.07.01. It closed during the Japanese occupation and re-opened at the same address 1945.11.05. From 1960.11.17 onward, postmarks from this office read 'Yau Ma Tei'; the office closed 1967.08.10.
