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.

History

The village was founded under the Ming Chenghua Emperor, 1464-1487, by the Tang clan, one of the Five Great Clans of the territory, who had come from China in the Song dynasty, and its walls were built by Tang Chue-yin and Tang Chik-kin in the early years of the Kangxi reign. In April 1899 the Tangs joined other clans in resisting the British takeover of the New Territories, making a stand at Kat Hing Wai; afterwards the iron gates were taken down and shipped to London, and after the clan asked for them back in 1924 they were returned in 1925 (Wikipedia, Kat Hing Wai).

Highlights

• 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.

Before you go

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.

Key facts