Kat Hing Wai

Kat Hing Wai at Kam Tin is a rectangular walled village of the Tang clan, founded around five hundred years ago and walled in the seventeenth century against bandits and pirates: blue-brick walls with corner watchtowers, a moat now largely filled, and a single iron-barred gate opening onto a central lane with rows of houses on either side. It is not a museum. People live here, and the visit is a walk down the lane and back, with a donation left at the gate. The original iron gates were taken away in a colonial-era dispute and returned in 1925, which is the story every guide tells. Most of the houses inside have been rebuilt in concrete.

What you actually see

• Blue-brick walls and watchtowers - the seventeenth-century defences.
• The barred iron gate - the single entrance to the village.
• The central lane - the axis the houses are arranged along.
• A village still lived in - residents rather than exhibits.

When to go

October to April. One hour; it is a short visit. Mornings are quieter. Leave the donation at the gate as asked.

Honest expectations

Most interior buildings are modern concrete and the historic fabric is the wall and gate. Residents are tired of cameras and photographing people or into homes is resented. The visit takes twenty minutes. Some visitors find the donation arrangement awkward.

Nearby

Ping Shan is west; Yuen Long lies west along the road.