Tsang Tai Uk, also known as Shan Ha Wai (), is a

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 ...

walled village A walled village () is a type of large traditional multi-family communal living structure found in China, that is designed to be easily defensible. It is completely surrounded by thick defensive walls, protecting the residents from the attack o ...

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 Delta i ...

,Brief Information on proposed Grade I Items. Item #1
and one of the best preserved. The complex is located in

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ...

close to the south of

Pok Hong Estate Pok Hong Estate () is a public housing estate in Sha Tin Wai, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong near Sha Tin Wai station. It consists of eight residential blocks completed in 1982, 1983 and 1985. Its site was originally a shallow sand beach n ...

, near

Lion Rock Tunnel The Lion Rock Tunnel, the first major road tunnel in Hong Kong, is a twin-bored toll tunnel, connecting Hin Tin, Sha Tin in the New Territories and New Kowloon near Kowloon Tong. It has two southbound lanes, and there are two northbound lan ...

Road.

Administration

Shan Ha Wai (Tsang Tai Uk) is a recognized village under 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 ...

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

The construction of Shan Ha Wai was begun in 1847 by the wealthy granite merchant and stonemason Tsang Koon-Man as a stronghold for the Tsang clan, and took around 20 years to complete. The original granite, bricks and solid timber are still preserved today. The complex is rectangular and consists of three rows of houses enclosed by grey brick walls. The four corners each feature a three-story guard tower with openings in the wall through which guns could be fired back in the early days of the complex's role as a defensive fortification. All the houses are interlinked by passages and small courtyards. In the innermost row of houses is an ancestral hall where meetings and ceremonies took place. There are three arched entrances in the northern wall. The main or ceremonial entrance is in the middle and leads to the ancestral hall. In front of the main building is a massive courtyard, where villagers traditionally winnowed and dried their harvest. It also contained a study hall where the Tsang children were tutored before schools existed. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Shan Ha Wai was 56. The number of males was 24. Shan Ha Wai gained its current name Tsang Tai Uk from locals when it housed displaced families after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. During the 1970s development of the

Sha Tin New Town Sha Tin New Town, or known as Sha Tin-Ma On Shan New Town or Sha Tin Town is one of the satellite towns and new towns of Hong Kong. It is within the Sha Tin District, the New Territories. The New Town covers the neighbourhoods such as Sha Tin, ...

, the surrounding area was developed significantly. During the course of new town development in Hong Kong, sometimes villages were relocated. However, Tsang Tai Uk was preserved due to its historical significance. In 1979, the village had about 700 residents, of whom about 300 belonged to the Tsang clan. Prince Charles, a former archaeology and history student, visited Tsang Tai Uk on 4 March 1979 during a royal tour. The land reclaimed from

Tide Cove Sha Tin Hoi / Sha Tin Sea () or Tide Cove is a cove at the mouth of the Shing Mun River. It is between Ma Liu Shui and Ma On Shan. The cove is open to Tolo Harbour (Tai Po Hoi). It was largely reclaimed for the development of Sha Tin New Town. ...

upon which the Sha Tin New Town was built was formed to an average of five or six metres above sea level. However, Tsang Tai Uk is only 2.5 or three metres above sea level, and historically suffered from flooding. During Typhoon Wanda in 1962, the village was badly flooded, with the ground level having been completely inundated. In the late 1970s, the government devised a drainage improvement plan.

Conservation

Tsang Tai Uk is listed as a Grade I historic building. Restoration work of the ancestral hall started in 2009, after a HK$ 1m Government grant on maintenance of privately owned graded historic buildings had been approved. Visitors are permitted in the first courtyard and ancestral hall;Approved applications for financial assistance on maintenance of privately-owned graded historic buildings
/ref> the remaining courtyards and buildings are private.

Access

The closest MTR stations are

Che Kung Temple Che Kung Miu (), also called Che Kung Temple, are temples dedicated to Che Kung, who was a general during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) in imperial China. He is believed by some worshipers to have been involved in the attempt to ...

and Sha Tin Wai.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Shan Ha Wai (Sha Tin) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

Journey Between the Centuries: Sha Tin by DiscoverHongKong.com
* Film Services Office
Tsang Tai Uk

Photos of Tsang Tai Uk

Google satellite view
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