Mui Tsz Lam () is an upland

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

village in the North District, in the northeastern part of 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 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Administration

Mui Tsz Lam 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 ...

History

Mui Tsz Lam is over 300 years old. It is one of the seven Hakka villages of the Hing Chun Yeuk (), which comprises

Kop Tong Kop Tong () is an upland Hakka village in the North District, in the northeastern part of the New Territories of Hong Kong. Administration Kop Tong is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Kop Tong is over 300 ...

Lai Chi Wo Lai Chi Wo is a Hakka village near Sha Tau Kok, in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is described as a "walled village" by some sources. Lai Chi Wo is located within Plover Cove Country Park and near Yan Chau Tong Marine Park. ...

, Mui Tsz Lam,

Ngau Shi Wu Ngau Shi Wu () is a village in the North District of Hong Kong. Administration Ngau Shi Wu is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Ngau Shi Wu is one of the seven Hakka villages of the Hing Chun Yeuk (), wh ...

Sam A Village Sam A () is a village in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong, named after the bay of Sam A Wan (). Administration Sam A is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History The Tsang () of Sam A have the sa ...

, Siu Tan (), and

So Lo Pun So Lo Pun () is a village in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong, within the Plover Cove Country Park. It is located northwest of Lai Chi Wo and northeast of Kuk Po. Today, the village is derelict and is uninhabited. Descendants of the for ...

. Mui Tsz Lam was abandoned in the 1970s. The village has been the focus of conservation and revitalization projects in the late 2010s and early 2020s, with the village being reconnected to the electricity grid in 2021.

Flora and fauna

The villages of Mui Tsz Lam and Kop Tong are surrounded by dense woodland. The stream system at Lai Chi Wo, Mui Tsz Lam and Kop Tong provides habitats for three amphibian species of conservation concern: Chinese Bullfrog '' Hoplobatrachus chinensis'', Big-headed Frog ''

Limnonectes fujianensis ''Limnonectes fujianensis'' (Fujian large-headed frog) is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is most closely related to, and formerly confused with ''Limnonectes kuhlii''. Its name refers to the type locality in Fujian province of ...

'' and Lesser Spiny Frog ''

Paa exilispinosa ''Quasipaa exilispinosa'' is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is known under many common names, including Hong Kong spiny frog, common spiny frog, lesser spiny frog, little spiny frog, and Hong Kong paa frog. It has a patchy dis ...

''. The fung shui woodlands at Mui Tsz Lam and Kop Tong support a diversity of plans, including ''

Pavetta hongkongensis ''Pavetta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 360 species of trees, evergreen shrubs and sub-shrubs. It is found in woodlands, grasslands and thickets in sub-tropical and tropical Africa and Asia. The plan ...

'' () and ''

Aquilaria sinensis ''Aquilaria sinensis'' is a species of plant in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is endemic to China. It is threatened by habitat loss. This medicinal plant is a source of fragrant wood, formed under a pathological condition, called ''Chen Xiang'' ( ...

'' of conservation significance.

Access

Mui Tsz Lam can be reached by foot from Lai Chi Wo. The walk takes about 15 minutes.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Mui Tsz Lam (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
Villages in North District, Hong Kong {{HongKong-geo-stub