Walled villages of Hong Kong
Once common throughout China, walled villages can still be found in southern China and Hong Kong. Most of the walled villages of Hong Kong are located in the New Territories.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the shore of Guangdong suffered from pirates, and the area of Hong Kong was particularly vulnerable to pirates' attacks. Winding shores, hilly lands and islands and far from administrative centres made Hong Kong an excellent hideout for pirates. Villages, both Punti and Hakka, built walls against them. Some villages even protected themselves with cannons.
Over time, the walls of most walled villages have been partly or totally demolished.
In Punti Cantonese, Wai (圍, Walled) and Tsuen (村, Village) were once synonyms, hence most place names which include the word 'wai', were at some point in time a walled village.
Walled villages in Hong Kong are characterised by row houses arranged in a square or rectangular block, where the parallel rows of houses are separated by narrow lanes.
Central axle of Sheung Cheung Wai, with shrine at the end of the lane. Seen from the village gate.
Tu Di Gong shrine within the gate of Tai Wai Village.
A narrow lane in Nam Pin Wai, typical of Hong Kong walled villages.
Wall of Lo Wai.
Kat Hing Wai (吉慶圍) is a noted Punti walled village in Yuen Long District of Hong Kong. It often mistakenly believed to be Hakka, whose people have similar traditions. However the Punti people were from Southern China and the first to settle in Hong Kong. Kat Hing Wai's residents speak Cantonese, rather than Hakka. Popularly known as Kam Tin, from the name of the area, it is home to about 400 descendants of the Tang Clan, who built the village back in the 17th century.
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