Wong Chuk Yeung (Tai Po District)
Wong Chuk Yeung (Chinese: 黄竹洋) is a remote village in Tai Po District, on the Sai Kung Peninsula of Hong Kong. It is located within the Ma On Shan Country Park, southeast of Ma On Shan Peak.
History
The village was established by the Lees (李) in 1660, who were originally from Dongguan, in Guangdong Province. Before they came to the village, they went to Kowloon City during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) with the Ng (吳) and Chan (陳) clans and set up the Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen.
The villagers were farmers, producing rice, sugar and beancurd sticks, which they sold in the Sai Kung Market. In the 1950s, iron mines were opened in Ma On Shan. As a consequence, the water tables of the village were lowered and the land became unsuitable for cultivation, forcing many farmers to abandon their land. Twelve families also surnamed Lee were resettled by the government from Ping Chau to a site near the village with the provision of water supply for their daily use and irrigation.[1]
The village today
The village is abandoned but is regularly visited by its ancestral descendants at times of ancestral worship such as at Qingming Festival. It lies along the MacLehose Trail (stage 4) and is one of the few abandoned villages in Hong Kong still accessible by car. The village is currently in the middle of a takeover bid from a development company.[1]
References
External links
- Wild Cows and Ghost Towns: Hiking Hong Kong
- Organised Hiking Tour which will take you pass Wong Chuk Yeung
- Aerial Imagery of the village - compared between Google and Yahoo maps
- Entrance road to the village as seen in Google StreetView
- Some great photos of the village taken by a local wildlife enthusiast