Lam Tsuen () is an area in

Tai Po District Tai Po District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The suburban district covers the areas of Tai Po New Town (including areas such as Tai Po Market, , Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Wo Estate), Tai Po Tau, Tai Po Kau, Hong Lok Yuen, ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, noted for its Lam Tsuen wishing trees. The nearby

Lam Tsuen River The Lam Tsuen River () is a river in Tai Po District, Hong Kong, with a length of 10.8 kilometres and a catchment area of approximately 21 square kilometres.Tai Po Hoi.

Villages

Lam Tsuen is not a village in the political sense but rather a union of the 23 villages scattered across the Lam Tsuen Valley along with five indigenous (

Punti ''Punti'' ( zh, t=本地, j=bun2 dei6, l=locals) is a Cantonese endonym referring to the native Cantonese people of Guangdong and Guangxi. ''Punti'' designates Weitou dialect-speaking locals in contrast to other Yue Chinese speakers and other ...

) villages and 18

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 ...

villages. Today, Lam Tsuen spreads over an area covering 26 villages: * Pak Ngau Shek Sheung Tsuen () * Pak Ngau Shek Ha Tsuen () *

Ng Tung Chai Ng Tung Chai (), also known as Wong Fung Chai (), is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong.Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building AppraisalYau Ancestral Hall, Ng Tung Chai/ref> It is the departure point of a trail leading ...

() * Chai Kek () *

Tai Yeung Che Tai Yeung Che () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, 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 ...

() * Ma Po Mei () * Shui Wo () * Ping Long () * Tai Om Shan () * Siu Om Shan () *

Tai Om Tai Om () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Administration Tai Om is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Tai Om was 162. The number of ...

() *

Lung A Pai Lung A Pai (; ) is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Recognised status Lung A Pai is a recognised village under the New Territories Small House Policy. References External links Delineation of area of existing village Lung A Pe ...

(), a Hakka village *

Tin Liu Ha Tin Liu Ha () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Administration Tin Liu Ha is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Tin Liu Ha was 177. The ...

(), a Hakka village, which was subdivided into 2 villages: Sheung Tin Liu Ha (, Upper Tin Liu Ha) and Ha Tin Liu Ha (, Lower Tin Liu Ha) *

San Tong San Tong () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, 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 speci ...

() * San Tsuen () *

She Shan Tsuen She Shan Tsuen () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Administration She Shan is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. Conservation The feng shui woodland at the back of the village of She Shan, c ...

() *

Tong Sheung Tsuen Tong Sheung Tsuen () is a village in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Administration Tong Sheung Tsuen is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Ko ...

() * Chung Uk Tsuen (), the oldest village in Lam Tsuen, was established more than 600 years ago. * San Uk Tsai () * Fong Ma Po (, lit. "place for grazing horses"), a Punti village, where the Tin Hau Temple and the Lam Tsuen wishing trees are located * Hang Ha Po () * Kau Liu Ha () * Wai Tau Tsuen () * Nam Wa Po () * Lin Au Lei Uk () * Lin Au Cheng Uk () Name: although the union of villages is called Lam Tsuen, however, the majority of villagers has the surname: Chong (), only a small proportion of residents are of surname Lam ()

Attractions

Wishing Tree

Wishing Tree is two camphor trees which were seen as "god" by the inhabitant. Traditionally, the villagers used to burn the joss paper and light up the candle under the trees for making wishes. In the legend, a woman who fell in ill dreamed that a god told her to visit Lam Tsuen and throw a piece of joss paper to the great tree. She followed the instruction and the women recovered. Afterwards, the people changed to toss the joss paper to the trees with their blessings written on it.

Tin Hau Temple

Tin Hau Temple at Lam Tsuen was built in 1768 to honour the Tin Hau, the goddess of the sea, who calmed the sea to protect the fishermen. In the beginning, the villagers had inadequate capital to construct the temple but a rich man, Tang, paid for the construction cost after he knew the situation. Then, the villagers put ''Tang'''s monument into the temple for worship. The villagers see the temple as the most sacred place in their village and the Bun Festival is held in there in every nine years. The regular worship and ceremony are also held in the Tin Hau Temple in normal days.

Well-Wishing Festival

Well-Wishing Festival was developed from traditional ritual for the inhabitant to the most representative ritual for making wishes in Hong Kong. The festival is held in the first couple of weeks of Chinese New Year. In the festival, the people can make wishes by tossing the joss paper, making lotus lanterns and doing other interesting activities. To attract more visitors, the Well-Wishing Carnival is developed and people can enjoy the cultural performance such as lion dance, and food stalls and game booths in the festival.

Da Jiu Festival

In Da Jiu Festival, people pray for good weather, health and peace in their village. This festival is held in Lam Tsuen in every 10 years. It lasts for five days and six nights.

Education

Lam Tsuen is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 84. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Tai Po Government Primary School (大埔官立小學).

References

External links

"Review of Egretries in Hong Kong", in ''Hong Kong Biodiversity'', Issue No. 14 March 2007, pp. 1-6.
{{coord, 22.4558, 114.1258, display=title Populated places in Hong Kong Hakka culture in Hong Kong