Heritage Trail and Museum

On Sunday we planned to visit Fanling and a heritage trail.    "The Lung Yeuk Tau (‘Mountain of the Leaping Dragon’) Heritage Trail takes visitors on a scenic journey into the history of the Tang clan, one of the five largest clans in the New Territories".  (link and link)

"In 13th century China, when the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) was succumbing to overwhelming Mongol forces, a pursued princess took refuge with the Tang clan, who hailed from China’s Jiangxi province. She ended up marrying one of the Tang men, and their descendants moved to Lung Yeuk Tau sometime towards the end of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). These descendants built 11 villages in the area, five of which are walled, which serve as a reminder of the dangers marauding bandits and pirates presented in the area in bygone times. "

Shek Lo

 We took a taxi to the start of the trail, near the abandoned Shek Lo mansion which was built in 1925 in a  blend of Chinese and Western architectural styles. "

Ma Wat Wai

Ma Wat Wai gatehouse was guarded by a rather old dog.   "The village of Ma Wat Wai is a clear indication of just how unfriendly some of this area was a few centuries ago. The gun platform over the gate dates back to 1740. It’s made of thick-plated wrought iron in two leaves, which allow air to circulate while still providing sufficient support. Access to the village is through a single narrow gate on the northwest side.  (source:  link)

Lo Wai walls

"A highlight of the trail, Lo Wai features thick walls accessible only through the single narrow gateway on the east side. The walls and gatehouse have been restored and are now preserved as Declared Monuments".

Lo Wai Gatehouse

 "The gatehouse contains a shrine to the Earth God and has a gun platform above, but the village’s small canon is no longer there."

"Originally built in 1525 and rebuilt around 1700, the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall is the oldest and largest ancestral hall in Hong Kong. Dedicated to the founding members of the Lung Yeuk Tau Tang clan, it houses the only imperial tablet in Hong Kong, which honours the clan’s ancestors, the Song Chinese princess and her Tang husband.

Tang Cheung Ying Ancestral Hall

The whole building is exquisitely decorated with fine wood carvings, polychrome plaster mouldings, ceramic sculptures and murals containing auspicious Chinese motifs."

Tin Hau Temple

"The local temple dedicated to Tin Hau is an excellent piece of workmanship, entirely traditional in form and decoration, and was last restored in 1981. A statue of Tin Hau, protector of fishermen and one of Hong Kong’s most popular deities, lives in the main hall, while the image of Kam Fa, Goddess of Childbirth, rests in the side hall".

Tin Hau Temple - detail  (note the bamboo flute)

One thing I found very interesting was that the villagers had erected stone tablets with inscriptions to ward off evil spirits.    "A number of stones engraved with the characters 'tai shan she kam dong' - 'the stone from tai shan dares to defend' have been erected at environmentally unfavourable places".   I'm considering trying to install one of these to protect my desk at work.

We had intended to continue on to see the rest of the trail to San Wai (link) and the delightfully named  'Sin Shut Study Hall' (which, as the name suggests, is not open to the public).   But instead the heavens opened and, since we we not carrying umbrellas, we had to find shelter and then flag-down a taxi to take us back to Fanling MTR.

Since it was raining we went down to Tai Wai and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum to see the block-buster exhibition "Dunhuang – Untold Tales, Untold Riches" (link).

"The Dunhuang Caves are home to Buddhist art relics of unparalleled beauty and intricacy as well as a vast repository of cultural information. Known as the "Encyclopaedia of the Middle Ages" and the "Library on the Wall", the collections in the caves preserve valuable materials from a variety of disciplines, including religion, art, history and ethnology...   This exhibition showcases nearly 120 artefacts that represent all the core aspects of Dunhuang grotto art and fully demonstrate the vast diversity of Dunhuang culture. Highlights include three replica caves, a 13-metre-long statue of the Nirvāṇa Buddha.... "

I'd been looking forward to this exhibition and it didn't disappoint.  It was really magnificent with amazing material very well presented.  Actually quite overwhelming.

Unfortunately Hannah wa very tired and wanted me to carry her on my back, and the exhibition was very well attended that Sunday afternoon.  So it was hard to get a good look through the crowds of people.  We decided to just have a quick look and come back another day (which unfortunately we never did).

One highlight for me was the painting of ancient orchestras, including figures playing vertical flutes like the shakuhachi.

Finally we picked up some wine in Shatin and went for dinner of pigeon at the famous Lung Wah hotel.   I like this restaurant very much and always welcome an excuse to go there.    Unfortunately Rika doesn't, so she made her excuses and took Hannah home for an early night.  

On the way to the restaurant we walked through Shatin New Town Plaza, and had to  push our way through a huge crowd in the mall that was watching some event.  We saw lots of police everywhere and we could hear shouting, but we kept going and didn't stop to watch.  

It turned out we had just missed a large protest against 'parallel trading', mainland shoppers who come to buy goods tax-free in Hong Kong and then re-sell them in Shenzen for a profit (since the mainland has a 17% sales tax)

"Trouble flared after more than 100 young protesters marched from the Sha Tin MTR station through the New Town Plaza, chanting 'mainlanders go back to the mainland' and telling mainlanders to 'drink their own milk powder'."

"One local, who grew up in the district but moved away a year ago, said she resented mainlanders.  'The situation is bad here. Sha Tin has become a parallel trading heaven...   I once saw a mainlander just casually having a meal of siu mei in a shopping mall nursing room. They have no manners and no culture.'"  (scmp link)

"A Hong Kong woman said the increasing number of mainland visitors had disrupted locals' daily lives and she now visits the mall less often. 'They are impolite. The hit people with the luggage they drag around and do not even apologize,' she said."   ( link)

Its a shame missed the action but we probably made the right choice not to watch as the police eventually used pepper spray to control the crowd.