Tai Wai - Housing - Villages

Villages

A number of villages still exist in Tai Wai and most of them are surrounded by the towers of housing estates. Traditional village layout and some historic buildings can still be found.

• Tai Wai Village, aka. Chik Chuen Wai (see above for history). It is located next to Tai Wai Station and the main commercial streets of the area. The village was walled to protect the villagers from bandits, pirates and/or unfriendly neighbours. It was rectangular in shape with 4 watch towers at its four corners. The towers and the walls have long been demolished leaving only the entrance gate and part of the front wall. The houses inside the walls are in rows, and many houses have been built outside the walls due to later development. Historic and traditional buildings include the Entrance Gate, a Hau Wong Temple, the Wai Ancestral Hall and several old houses.
• Tai Wai New Village (大圍新村) is located on a slope alongside Tai Po Road, just minutes walk away from the old village. It was established in the 1980s as the then colonial government's effort to compensate the villagers for effectively confiscating their land for development. Each male villager was given a piece of land of which he has the right to build a Spanish styled three story house to live in. Most of these houses are now rented by outsiders for the relatively tranquil countryside surroundings. The land occupied by the village was once cultivated for pineapples.

Ha Keng Hau, Sheung Keng Hau and Hin Tin are three adjacent villages located along Hin Keng Street (顯徑街), along a northeast-southwest direction. Hin Keng Estate, located northeast of the villages and across Hin Keng Street, was named after them.

• Ha Keng Hau (下徑口) is located east of Hin Keng Estate and west of Lung Hang Estate. It was established by the Law (羅) and the Mak (麥) during the 18th century. The Mak who settled there had branched out of Pan Chung (泮涌) in Tai Po.

• Sheung Keng Hau (上徑口) is located southeast of Hin Keng Estate. It is a single-surname village, Wai (韋), with a history of over 300 years. The Wai Ancestral Hall was rebuilt in 1930.

• Hin Tin (顯田) is located south of the main part of Hin Keng Estate. The village was erected with government funding in the 1920s to resettle three clans of villagers from Shek Lei Pui Valley (石梨貝谷), to make way for the construction of the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir, completed in 1925. Some 80 people lived in 26 houses in the former Shek Lei Pui Village. The Yeung (楊), the Law (羅) and the So (蘇) were Hakkas from Nantou who had settled in the Valley for some 300 years. Another clan in the Valley, the Lau (劉), moved to Kwai Chung instead of Hin Tin at the resettlement. The ancestral halls of the three clans were built in Hin Tin, connected together to form a single block on the front row of the original three rows of houses. They have been listed as Grade III historic buildings since 2010. In 1982, the Housing Department demolished 600 structures at Hin Tin and relocated 167 families.

Villages in the vicinity of Che Kung Temple:

• Kak Tin (隔田) is located south of Sun Chui Estate and Sun Tin Wai Estate. It was one of the five Punti villages in Sha Tin founded about 400 years ago by Tsang (曾) clanspeople, originally from Shandong. The villagers were historically farmers engaged in rice and vegetable growing supported by pig and poultry rearing. The village had a population of 130 in 1899 and 220 in 1960. About 80 households of the Tsangs are still residing in the village. While most of the village houses have been demolished and replaced by modern small houses, the houses Nos. 11 and 12 of Third Street, erected in the 1920-1930s, remain. No. 11 has been listed as a Grade III historic building since 2010.

• Lei Uk Tsuen (李屋村) is located east of Che Kung Temple and west of Chun Shek Estate. It was established by the Lei clan in the late 17th century.

• San Tin Village (新田村) is located south of Che Kung Temple and east of Sun Chui Estate. It was historically a single-clan village of the Lau (劉), and it now features the Lau Ancestral Hall (劉氏家祠). The Lau were Hakkas who first moved from Huizhou to Grassy Hill, northwest of Sha Tin, during the 18th century. They were farmers engaged in cultivation. As their population increased, they bought a piece of land from the Kak Tin and Tin Sam villages and established a new village called 'San Tin' (lit. "new field") in the late 1890s.

• Sha Tin Tau (沙田頭) is located east of Chun Shek Estate, north of Fung Shing Court and south of Tsang Tai Uk. Historically the only Hakka multi-surname village in the Sha Tin area, it was first settled by the Chan (陳) and later by the Law (羅), the Lam (林), the Yip (葉), the Lau (劉) and others. There are several ancestral halls in the village, including the Lau Ancestral Hall (劉氏家祠), that was built before 1900. The founding ancestor of the Lau clan of Sha Tin Tau village moved from Longchuan in the mid-19th century. The clan has lived there for nine generations by the early 21st century.

• Sha Tin Tau New Village (沙田頭新村)

Other villages in Tai Wai include:

• Heung Fan Liu New Village (香粉寮新村) is located near the Tai Wai Nullah, north of Mei Tin Estate and east of the Lower Shing Mun Reservoir.

• Pak Tin (白田) is located west of Mei Chung Court.

• Tin Sam Village (田心圍) is located west of Sun Chui Estate, north of Lung Hang Estate, and southeast of Festival City. It was founded in the late Ming Dynasty as a Punti walled village and was historically inhabited by the Choi (蔡), the Wai (韋), the Leung (梁), the Tsang (曾) and the Liu (廖). A moat was built for its protection, and was later filled up and used as a fish pond. Historic buildings in the village include the Choi Ancestral Hall, also known as Chung Kwong Family Hall (宗光家祠), built around the 1920s, the Leung Ancestral Hall (梁氏祠堂), largely rebuilt and occupied by tenants, the Liu Ancestral Hall (廖氏祠堂), and the Entrance Gate, built during the Qing Dynasty. Two rectangular holes are above the front doorways of the Gate for feng shui benefit and for security watching. The Che Kung Temple in Tai Wai was originally built and managed by the Tin Sam Village, but the village lost its managerial rights in the late 19th century.

• Tung Lo Wan (銅鑼灣) is located east of Mei Lam Estate, across the Tai Wai Nullah. It was historically a Hakka village occupied by families of different surnames, the Yau (邱) being the majority. The first generation of the Tse clan who settled in the village moved to Tung Lo Wan in the early 20th century. The Tse Ancestral Hall (謝氏祠堂), also called Tse Po Shu Tong (謝寶樹堂), was built before 1910. It is the only ancestral hall in the village. The Li Cottage (玉山艸堂), located nearby, at the corner of Tung Lo Wan Hill Road and Chung Ling Road, was built around 1918. It is connected by a path to the Li Tomb (李玉山伉儷墓) uphill.

• Yau Oi Tsuen (友愛村), located west of Tao Fung Shan.