An Urban Respite: The Jockey Club Tak Wah Park (Formerly Hoi Pa Tsuen Village)
After visiting the Chuen Lung Family Walk, I had about ten photos left on my film. I was eager to develop the film soon, so I looked for easy heritage sites in Tsuen Wan for picture-taking. Since the Jockey Club Tak Wah Park is in the very urban center of Tsuen Wan, I decided to give it a go.
And wow, what an incredible garden space in the middle of Tsuen Wan’s busiest business district!
The Tak Wah Park stands at the former site of Hoi Pa Village, which is a mixed-lineage Hakka village. The landscape of Jockey Club Tak Wah Park shows an exceptional effort in accentuating the character of ancient classical Hakka structures. The garden space boasts of many traditional features in Chinese gardens (see below).
As its name suggest, this park was built with sponsorship by the Jockey Club. The first phase of construction completed in 1989, and the second phase of construction completed in 1995. There was a recent restoration that completed in 2005.
The Former Houses of Hoi Pa Village
The Hoi Pa Village had a history of over one hundred years. Three structures of the former Hoi Pa Village were preserved in the Tak Wah Park. Two were old houses, and the third one is the Chan Yi Cheung Ancestral Hall. They are Grade 3 Historic Buildings.
The largest, two-storey Old House lying on the northeastern direction of the park close to Tsuen Wan Market Street has the most significant stature out of the three. According to descriptions on site, the construction materials for these three structures were “rammed earth, green bricks, green tiles and timber… exemplary of the traditional southern Chinese village architecture.”
For some time, the space on the ground floor of the Old House served as the exhibition venue known as Tak Wah Exibition. However, the exhibition does not open for public visit now. I did see what seemed like office space upstairs, with lights fully on. I believe it runs as some sort of an office for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department now.
The Chan Yi Cheung Ancestral Hall, which lies closest to the Tsuen Wan Market Street entrance of the park, is the oldest building out of the three on site. It was built in the second year of the Guangxu Reign (1876), and again restored in the first year of the Xuantong Reign (1909). It became a historic monument in 1986. In 2005, it underwent restoration.
Chan Yi Cheung is the 27th ancestor for the Chan’s of Hoi Pa Village. The Chan’s came from the village of Shajing Houting in Guangdong Province’s Baoan County. Sources online have suggested that the Chan’s moved to the Hoi Pa Village in Tsuen Wan after the Qing court lifted the Coast Evacuation Decree during the 17th century. Chan Yi Cheung was the ancestor that led the villagers to Hoi Pa Village in Tsuen Wan.
Finally, the small village house closer to the Tak Hoi Street entrance was built in 1904. Again, it shows the same architectural features and building materials as with the other two structures on site. Since 1997, it had opened as the Environmental Resource Center of the Environmental Protection Department. The Environmental Resource Center used to feature a library, media room, and a reconstructed kitchen space. However, it has closed its door since 2016.
Due to the development of Tsuen Wan’s town center in the 1980s, the Hong Kong Government moved the Hoi Pa Village to various new locations, including Cheung Pei Shan Road, Yi Pei Chun Road, and Hoi Pa San Tsuen (Hoi Pa New Village).
The Park and Its Community
The 1.63-acre garden has a beautiful pagoda by the lake. The lake mirrors every imagery perfectly. A petite stone bridge, a man-made waterfall, with the Old House of Hoi Pa Tsuen in the background, take one back to the ancient times. Schools of large koi swim freely in the lakes, adding a great touch of auspiciousness to the landscape.
If without the bolster of Tsuen Wan’s busy streets outside, and the buzz of human activities within the park, I really could have been in a movie. And surely, this is a spot for filming.
Clearly, I was not the only one that thinks of this park as a treasured space. The garden offers ample space and facilities for people to gather and play Chinese chess, or perhaps some were even gambling from what I could observe. I heard a few men discussing the latest tips in horseracing. This was in great contrast with the apparent tranquility that this garden space has intended to impart. However, the sense of community there was perhaps the best indication of the park’s success, besides the landscaping.
I really enjoyed the half-hour respite in the Tak Wah Park. Since it was about dinner time, I headed out to the action-packed Tsuen Wan streets to look for food.
How to Get There
The address of the Jockey Club Tak Wah Park is Tak Wah Street, Tsuen Wan. There are entrances in Tsuen Wan Market Street and Tak Hoi Street.
Sources
Historic descriptions on site.
The Wikipedia on the Jockey Club Tak Wah Park (Chin).
Antiquities and Monuments Office, Declared Monuments in Hong Kong, Old House, Hoi Pa Village, Tsuen Wan.
The Wikipedia on Hoi Pa Village.