Lung Yeuk Tau heritage trail

You've probably heard of the Ping Shan heritage trail with its famous "Gathering Stars" Pagoda. You will have come across the Central and Western heritage trail, or at least some of the early 20th century buildings featured in the urban walk. But what about Lung Yeuk Tau (龍躍頭) heritage trail?

Duration: 3 hours

The Lung Yeuk Tau trail is one of the three main official historic walks designed by the government, but the distinctive villages along the walk are all in private hands and preservation is haphazard at best. But it does take you to eight ancient walled villages and four other significant monuments along the way, all within very short walking distance to each other. The trail is also very well-served by minibuses going back to Fanling Station.

Take the 56C green minibus from Fanling Station to Siu Hang Village (小坑村) if you want to do the whole trail. It was perhaps an indication of Siu Hang's relative lack of charm that a villager waiting for the same bus had assumed I was heading there for the sight of egrets gathering around the river outside, rather than for the village itself.

Siu Hang Village

There's little indication of its 200-year history apart from a little temple to the right of the village entrance. The village wall was a product of the 1960s, apparently by bizarre order of Fung Shui masters who insisted it would help the villagers produce male offsprings. Even the egrets weren't there that day. So I hurried along to the next village, San Wai.

San Wai (新圍) is a lot more fun. Wai literally means an enclosure and here, the original village wall is still standing for starters (or bits of it). It dates back to 1744. The entrance of the village says "觀龍", or observing the Dragon, which probably means the hills in front.

San Wai village entrance

One of the four watchtowers

The original houses within are largely replaced by the typical modern village houses covered in shiny, ugly tiles. But there are still a few gems left, and you can climb up the steep wooden ladder by the main entrance for a peek into one of the watchtowers.

Inside the watchtower

The next few stops hardly take any time at all because there just isn't much to see.

Sin Shut Study Hall (善述書室) was built in 1840 by the Tangs and was a school as recently as 1938. But Sin Shut, sadly, now shuts out the public. Only clan members are allowed in for special celebrations.

Outside of Sin Shut Study Hall

Lintel plaque with the name and year it was built (year before Hong Kong became a British colony)

Wing Ning Wai (永寧圍), Wing Ning Village (永寧村) and Tung Kok Wai (東閣圍) barely have anything old left.

This is the best of it. The entrance to Tung Kok Wai. Photo credit: AMO

Next to come is the pièce de résistance of the entire walk. The Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall (松嶺鄧公祠) is impeccably restored and has sign boards containing useful information about the whole area. The ancestral hall is crowded with wooden alters for earlier generations and features delicate carvings of historic Chinese characters.

Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall

Ancestral tablets

Possibly Zhuge Liang (R) of the Three Kingdoms, because of the feather fan

Possibly Tao Yuanming the poet because of the the peach blossoms and the headgear

Outside walls of the Hall

The neighbouring Tin Hau temple is charming and well-cared for. Which is probably all the Goddess of the Sea can hope for in a village far away from the sea. Here, there is no major celebration of Tin Hau's birthday. Instead, the big local event is the once-a-decade "Da Jiu" (打醮) - similar to the famous Cheung Chau Bun Festival - featuring Cantonese opera and vegetarian banquets in front of the temple. The next one is early December 2013.

Tin Hau Temple

 

No flowers at the moment but the Orchids will look amazing growing off the temple wall

Next comes Lo Wai (老圍) which, as the name suggests, is the oldest walled village in the area.  It's also the only one with a big sign saying "No Tourists" unfortunately. It's built on a raised platform and hides behind great big fortress-like walls.

The next attraction is Shek Lo (石廬) - probably the most romantic ruin in the whole of Hong Kong. Built in 1925 by the founder of Wah Yan College, the two-storey colonial mansion features a number of interesting Chinese and western architectural styles, according to the Antiquities and Monuments Office. Shame you can't really see anything of it apart from a bit of the top, for the buildings are now completely surrounded by an impenetrable bamboo forest. Although it was built by Tsui Yan-sou, the property is privately owned by the Pang family. The Pangs, who own nearby Fanling Wai village, is one of the five main New Territories clans.

Engraving of the Pang family's symbol and the name "Pleasure Garden" on the entrance gate

A glimpse of Shek Lo

Shek Lo

The last stop is Tsung Kyam Church (崇謙堂) of the Basel Mission Society. It's not a particularly attractive specimen but it is interesting because the congregation grew so large that a whole village was built around it.

Tsung Kyam Churc

 

Converted garage in an old village house

The trail is all flat but it's hot work in the Summer with no shelter and no cafe/ shop along the way. But Fanling Station is just 15 minutes away from the church and the town is packed with cheap eats, such as Tong Kee Bao Dim, a famous steamed bun shop inside Dragon Court shopping centre. And there's also vegetarian food at the outrageously gaudy Fung Ying Sin Goon Taoist Temple directly opposite the train station.

Fung Ying Sin Goon Taoist Temple