HK KamTsinVillage HauMeiFungAncestralHall

HK SheungShui Earth God Shrine of Kam Tsin Tsuen

Kam Tsin (), also known as Kam Tsin Tsuen () is a village and an area in the North District, in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

in Hong Kong.

Administration

Kam Tsin is a recognized village under the

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

. It is one of the villages represented within the Sheung Shui District Rural Committee. For electoral purposes, Kam Tsin is part of the Sheung Shui Rural constituency, which is currently represented by Simon Hau Fuk-tat.

Location

Kam Tsin is located south of

Yin Kong Yin Kong () is a village in Sheung Shui, North District, Hong Kong. Administration Yin Kong is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. It is one of the villages represented within the Sheung Shui District Rural Committe ...

, west of Kwu Tung, Ngau Tei and Hang Tau. Its south and east are surrounded by the

Hong Kong Golf Club The Hong Kong Golf Club is a private golf club. It is home to the Hong Kong Open, a tournament co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours. Founded in 1889 as the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, the Club originally played in Happy Valley, a l ...

. The Fanling Bungalow and

Fanling Lodge Fanling Lodge is an official residence of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, which serves as a country house and occasionally hosts official functions. Built in 1934 as a summer residence for the then Governor of Hong Kong, Fanling Lodge was g ...

are on its southeast.

History

The Hau ()

Clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

, one of the

Five Great Clans of the New Territories The Five Great Clans of the New Territories are five families that settled early and became sizeable in the New Territories of Hong Kong. They are the Tang ( Deng; ), the Man (Wen; ), Hau (Hou; ), Pang (Peng; ) and Liu ( Liao; ). The Hau Clan ar ...

, arrived in modern-day Hong Kong towards the end of the 12th century, during the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

. They first settled at

Ho Sheung Heung Ho Sheung Heung () is an area in Sheung Shui, North District, Hong Kong. Administration Ho Sheung Heung is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. For electoral purposes, Ho Sheung Heung is part of the Sheung Shui R ...

. They later settled three branch-villages:

, Kam Tsin and

Ping Kong Ping Kong () is a walled village in Sheung Shui, North District, Hong Kong. Administration Ping Kong is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. It is one of the villages represented within the Sheung Shui District Rura ...

. In 1851, a war opposed the village of

San Tin San Tin () is a loosely defined area in Yuen Long District in New Territories, Hong Kong that is part of the San Tin constituency. Unlike Hong Kong's highly urbanised areas, San Tin is sparsely populated due to its marshlands. San Tin is loca ...

and Kam Tsin.

Features

The village contains two temples which are used by the native Hau clan to worship their ancestors. One of these temples is open to visitors at weekends and on public holidays. There are also two schools and a kindergarten next to it. The Hau Mei Fung Ancestral Hall is a declared monument. The

Earth God An Earth god is a deification of the Earth associated with a figure with chthonic or terrestrial attributes. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra. Egyptian mythology have the sky goddesses, Nut a ...

Shrine of Kam Tsin Tsuen and the Hau Chung Fuk Tong Communal Hall are listed as Grade II historic buildings.

Transportation

Although Kam Tsin is by the side of Castle Peak Road and

Fanling Highway Fanling Highway () is a part of Route 9 in Hong Kong. It connects the new town of Tai Po and San Tin Highway, passing through Sheung Shui and Fanling on its way. The three lane expressway was constructed between 1983 and 1987. Alignment The ro ...

nowadays, it is not connected to these roads directly. The access to the area is Kam Tsin Road, a branch road from Castle Peak Road.

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

access is by

green minibus The public light bus or minibus is a public transport service in Hong Kong. It uses minibuses to serve areas that standard Hong Kong bus lines cannot reach efficiently. The vehicles are colloquially known by the code-switch ' (Van Jái) lite ...

50A from

Sheung Shui station Sheung Shui (; : , literally "Above-water") is the penultimate northbound station on the in Hong Kong. This station serves as the terminus of northbound trains after the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau boundary crossings have closed for the day. It is ...

or by a red minibus to and from Sheung Shui which only runs in the mornings. One can also access

Kowloon Motor Bus The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International. ...

bus 76K and red minibus 17, plus other green minibus services by crossing a footbridge over Fanling Highway.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Kam Tsin (Sheung Shui) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

{{coord, 22.500462, 114.111995, display=title Villages in North District, Hong Kong