The Sam Mun Tsai New Village

I have lived in Tai Po before.  The one thing that I had heard about Sam Mun Tsai was its fame for seafood.  The only other time that I visited the area was related to food as well.  I ate at a Chinese restaurant there for really good and pricy dim sum.

When I learned about Ma Shi Chau, I decided that I must visit Sam Mun Tsai for the proper reason.  That is, to see its roots as a fishing village amidst beautiful ocean surroundings.  For the only way to reach Ma Shi Chau on foot is by hiking through the Sam Mun Tsai New Village and up the hilly area following in Yim Tin Tsai of Tai Po.

The Sam Mun Tsai New Village

The minibus (details below) dropped me off right at the entrance to Sam Mun Tsai New Village.  I then walked through the village in order to find my way to the hilly area.  To my surprise, the village has put in quite a bit of effort to tell its story.

Photo: a beautiful introduction of Sam Mun Tsai New Village’s history on its village walkway.

According to displays on site, the earliest settlement by fishermen in the old Sam Mun Tsai area dated as early as 1898.  This was before the British took over the New Territories.  Now the Plover Cove Reservoir and Tolo Harbour, the old Sam Mun Tsai area was a good shelter for fishing boats because of its surrounding hills and islands.

The name “sam mun” means “the three gates.”  The village acquired this name from the geography of the old Sam Mun Tsai area.  There were three water channels situated between the Sam Mun Tong Chau and Tong Tau Chau islands, which lied parallel to each other in Tolo Harbour before the Plover Cove Reservoir was built.  Thus the name Sam Mun Tsai.

Some of these fishermen did eventually settle down on land, and the Hong Kong Government offered to move them to the current location in Tai Po’s Yim Tin Tsai in order to make way for the construction of the Plover Cove Reservoir in the 1960s.  This became the Sam Mun Tsai New Village.  At the time of relocation, the Hong Kong Government moved the whole old Sam Mun Tsai Village to Yim Tin Tsai.  It built two-storey buildings to house some 40 family homes.

Later on, the fishermen of Tap Mun and Ko Lau Wan joined this new fishermen’s community in Sam Mun Tsai New Village.  They have been here to this day.  Besides the fishermen’s home, the government later also provided a school and a harbour shelter for the fishermen’s families.  The community lived in this setting for 40 years.  Then there were calls to renovate the structures of the village, replacing the old floors and the roofs, and with water-proof materials as well as new paint on the walls and staircases.  This renovation project completed in 2007.  Then Chief Executive Donald Tsang officiated the opening ceremony of the revamped Sam Mun Tsai New Village when it reopened.

As shown in the pictures below, there is that sense of the idyllic in this fishing village even today.  The villagers surely take pride in their heritage, calling this village a “heaven of tranquility.”  Fishing now has certainly moved on to meet the change of times.  There are still fish-catching in the traditional way, but villagers also do fish farming in rafts with the latest technology.

The Visit at Sam Mun Tsai New Village

Plentiful sunshine blessed this summer day and I was very excited when I saw the scenes of a fishing village.  Boats docked over jade-blue waters.  There were different types of sun-dried food on the way.  This was a very refreshing scene for me, even as compared with the many New Territories villages that I visited before.

Photos above and below: scenes at the Sam Mun Tsai New Village

About ten minutes into the walk in the village, I came across the signs pointing to the hilly area that would lead me to Ma Shi Chau, but I was in search of the Tai Po GeoHeritage Center, as I would like to learn more about the geological formations on the island before I went.

The Tai Po GeoHeritage Center

The Tai Po GeoHeritage Center would have provided an air-conditioned space for introduction of the geological features of Ma Shi Chau in greater detail.  But they have remained closed since the pandemic began.  The address is 120 Sam Mun Tsai, Tai Po.  It is the first community-initiated geo-educational center in Hong Kong.

According to the group’s introduction on Facebook, it still accepts bookings for guided group tours.  Please refer to their Facebook page for more.  I think that this would be a good idea for families with children.  I also think that for those who are serious about the geology of the island, it is worthwhile to take a guided tour.  On my own exploring, I ran into wild dogs that chased me and it was a very frightening experience.  See the next entry on Ma Shi Chau.

Photo: the Tai Po GeoHeritage Center, closed due to the pandemic.

Photo: sign of a vibrant community

How to Get there

From the minibus terminal at the Tai Po Market Station, take green top minibus 20K to the final stop.  Bus 74K also has a final stop in Sam Mun Tsai, but it would take longer than the minibus.

Sources

Historical descriptions on-site at Sam Mun Tsai New Village.

The Wikipedia on Ma Shi Chau.

Ma Shi Chau, the Hong Kong Geo Park.

The Tai Po GeoHeritage Center’s Facebook Page.