Vignettes of the World
Located within the Lam Tsuen Country Park, Kai Kung Leng prides the highest peak in northwest New Territories after Tai Mo Shan. With its highest peak at 585 meters, the mountain range provides an exceptional opportunity to view the landscape of northern and northwestern New …
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 Tung Shan Temple is an easily accessible site in San Tin, Yuen Long. It lies right at the village entrance, next to the restaurants of San Tin. I have seen signs pointing to the temple and finally had the opportunity to pay a visit. It has quite an unusual beauty as a temple.
Along with the Tang, Hau, Pang and Liu clans, the Man’s were recognized as one of the “five great clans” of the New Territories by the colonial government of Hong Kong. Scholars have suggested that the colonial government made favorable policies for them because of their joined resistance against the British takeover of the New Territories during the Six-day War of 1899. The main clan residing in the San Tin area is the Man’s.
Tung Shan is the name of Man Tin-shui, the descendants of whom established the Man villages in San Tin of Yuen Long. Originally, Tung Shan Temple was a Tin Hau Temple. After its restoration in 1905, the temple was dedicated to the original ancestor Man Tin-shui, as such it acquired the name Tung Shan Temple.
The Tung Shan Temple of San Tin became a Grade 3 historic building in 2010. It is believed that its earliest existence began during the Chenghua Reign of Ming Dynasty (1470). Man Sai Kor, who was also the founder of the Man villages in San Tin (see below), founded this temple. As such, the temple prides a history of more than five hundred years. The former structure was restored during the Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1905). It underwent a restoration in 1970. Finally, the former structure was rebuilt in 2013, with most of the items replaced.
Photos: Items inside the temple. The plaques on the two photographs on the left show the details and contributors to the restorations.
The Man’s of San Tin shares the same lineage with Wen Tianxiang (pinyin), who was a very famous historical figure in China’s ancient times. He was the prime minister (standing on the right side of the Emperor, as the highest-ranked official during the Southern Song Dynasty) for the Song Emperor. He was a loyal politician and also a poet. History books laud him for staunchly opposing the forces of Kublai Kahn, leader of the non-Han Mongolian tribe, who would establish the Yuan Dynasty after Song Dynasty fell.
Kublai Khan’s forces captured Wen Tianxiang in 1278, and offered Wen a post as an official in the imperial court of Kublai Khan. Wen refused to succumb to the “barbaric mongols,” and suffered greatly for four years in prison. He was eventually executed, but left behind a great patriotic poem known as the Songs of Righteousness for posterity.
Now, the Man’s of the New Territories were not direct descendants of Wen Tianxiang, but they do take pride in the shared lineage with this peerless hero in Chinese history. The founding father of the Man’s in San Tin, Man Sai Kor, was a descendant of Man Tin-shui. Man Tin-shui was Wen Tianxiang’s cousin on the paternal line. Man Tin-shui himself was a noted official, although in no way as famous as Wen Tianxiang. He served in Guangdong during the Song Dynasty. His descendants ended up establishing a number of villages in various locations in the New Territories, including Tai Po and San Tin.
When I arrived at the site, I came from the back of the temple then onto the front. I simply did not expect to see the grand appearance of the temple. I was very much amazed by how well-restored it was.
Tung Shan Temple: Views from the inside.
First of all, no one can miss the beautiful wooden plaque right at the entrance. The name of the temple in gold sets against a red background. This color combination really accentuates the words. The red, blue and gold theme conveys a brilliance and liveliness unusual for the temples of Hong Kong.
Figures of dragons, lions and an array of other auspicious animals greet visitors, giving an impression of authority. Right away, I straightened my back and prepared myself for a solemn entry.
According to a report online, the villagers did not think so highly of the Tung Shan Temple. They thought that the temple did not have good feng-shui, and the incense-burning turned cold there for a long time. I suspect the abundance of auspicious motifs are there to turn the feng-shui around.
Finally, also exceptionally beautiful are the figurines that line the top of Tung Shan Temple’s roof. These ones seemed to depict scenes of Chinese folktales. I wish I could tell what narratives they are.
First of all, I do think quite highly of the homey restaurants that line the entrance of the Wing Ping Tsuen Village in San Tin. They are right by the bus stop and offer good food with very reasonable prices. It is a good idea to stop there for a regular or a light meal.
Secondly, there are quite a number of heritage sites in this area. The best-known is Tai Fu Tai, which is a Qing Dynasty mansion for Man Chung-luen, the 21st generation ancestor for the Man clan in San Tin.
Last, but certainly not least, there are other sites. The Man Lun-fung Ancestral Hall, the Man Ancestral Hall and the Man San Ye Ancestral Hall lie in proximity within the Fan Tin Tsuen village. They are testaments to the Man clan’s history in the area. The Man Lun-fung Ancestral Hall has a notable scholarly bent to it, and I will explain in another entry.
This is part of the series on the Man clan’s history in San Tin, Yuen Long. See also the entries on Tai Fu Tai and Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall. Consider doing all these sites in one trip. It is doable within a half day.
The easiest way by public transport is to take bus 76K from either Yuen Long Station (Yoho Mall 1) or Sheung Shui Station. The location is perhaps somewhat halfway between Sheung Shui and Yuen Long. Get off at the San Tin stop (note that it is the same stop for both directions, therefore watch out for which direction the bus is going when you leave). The Tung Shan Temple is right at the bus stop.
By private car, you may park at the small parking lot next to the San Tin Post Office but it is usually very crowded there.
Baidu.com.hk, Prime Minister on the Right.
The Wikipedia on Wen Tianxiang.
Chan Tin-kuen, The Ancestral Heritage of the Man Clan in San Tin, Yuen Long, Thinkhk.com (Chin), April 6, 2017.
Hugh D. R. Baker, The Five Great Clans of the New Territories, 6 Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 25-48 (1966), From the Wikipedia’s entry on the Five Great Clans of the New Territories.
When visiting Hong Kong’s heritage sites, I find most of them to be very beautiful in their restored state. This visit at Yam Wah Lo, also known as Pun Uk, brought forth a different kind of appreciation. The unrestored historic Hakka structure, very much in …
The Chuen Lung Family Walk is the shortest family walk in Hong Kong at 0.5 kilometer. I was curious so I decided to pay a visit. The Chuen Lung Family Walk is a loop. I walked from the Chuen Lung Village minibus stop so the …
After visiting the Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po Market, I headed out to Wun Yiu, in another part of Tai Po. It is a much lesser-known exhibition as compared with the Railway Museum, but no less interesting.
The exhibition center lies behind the Wun Yiu Public School. It is a very small venue, but it serves all educational purposes. It shows a history of the village way before the colonial times.
I spent about a half hour to read through the captions. I then asked the lady whether I can visit the archaeological sites on show in the exhibition. She said only the animal-driven grinder is in the vicinity and open to public visit. The other archaeological discoveries, including the china clay pits, the watermill, the washing basins, paste-making workshop and the kiln are not open to public visit.
This is mainly because the public has no way to know actually where they are. Some of them, she told me, were actually re-covered with soil and buried again in order to prevent weathering and other damages. I found that to be incredulous, but I would have to take her word for it.
The San On Gazetteers of 1688 and 1819 contained entries that referred Wun Yiu as Wun Liu and Wun Yiu respectively. This fact indicates that the area was known for making porcelain during the early Qing Dynasty, for “wun” in Chinese means bowls.
The Man’s and the Tse’s were the founders of the Wun Yiu Village. The imperial edict of coastal evacuation of 1662 had displaced them. By the time the Qing emperor lifted the edict in 1669, only the Man’s returned to their home village in Hong Kong. Although they were makers of porcelain here before the coastal evacuation, they were not able to revive the industry after their return. As a result, production ceased.
In 1674, the Ma’s came to Tai Po from Changle in Guangdong. They purchased the kilns from the Man’s, and revived the porcelain-making industry in Wun Yiu. “It was recorded in a government document that the production of Wun Yiu amounted to 400,000 pieces annually” by the mid-Qing Dynasty. These pieces were sold locally as well as for export to places as far as Southeast Asia.
However, as time progressed, the Wun Yiu production met fierce competition from the coastal production of porcelain in Guangdong. Production continued to decline, and by the 1930s it ceased completely.
Wun Yiu is “the only kiln site that produced porcelain in underglaze blue currently found in Hong Kong.” The study of Wun Yiu’s archaeological sites had begun as early as the 1950s. Archaeological teams continued to unearth pottery-making sites in the Wun Yiu area into the 1990s. With the help of the villagers of Sheung Wun Yiu and Ha Wun Yiu, the archaeological team located all the sites that were required in the porcelain-making process.
Rich deposits in china clay and china stones in the Cheung Uk Tei area in Wun Yiu has enabled the emergence of the porcelain-making industry in the village. Archaeologists have discovered mined quarry pits for raw materials. Close to the quarries were the watermills. The site shows 16 remains of the mill, each equipped with 3 to 6 sets of pestles and mortar. The mortar was hammered from granite.
At the animal-driven grinder, the china is ground to fine china powder (see more below). Next in the process is washing. The archaeological team has discovered washing basins, where the villagers washed and soaked the china clay powder. After rounds of washing and precipitation, the resulting mixture was the fine clay for porcelain-making.
Then the clay is kneaded and formed at the paste-making workshop. The archaeological team has discovered just three stone pillars, of the same height and shape, in the village that could have held the horizontal planks where villagers laid out the pieces for drying.
Next comes the kiln firing. There were two dragon kilns found in the area, both built on slopes. The ascending steps along the kiln were what gave them the name of “dragon kilns.” Photographs of the kiln sites show clearly the ventilation holes.
Photograph: these are firing tools
Photographs: these are the porcelain shards found at the archaeological sites. Apparently, there were heaps of them.
Photographs: the kendi discovered in Wun Yiu is indication that products here were made for exports. Kendi is a popular water container for the Muslims.
The museum displays a cow pulling the grinder in a pictorial illustration. In fact, the Chinese name of this device means “the cow grind.”
This grinder comprises of a circular trough and a grinding blade, both of granite. It was used to grind china stones into fine powder to make clay. In those times, the most common animal that pulled the grinder was the water buffalo.
To visit the animal-driven grind, which is the only archaeological site available for public visit, exit the museum and go pass the Fan Sin Temple. Next to the temple, there is a slope leading up. Make your way up and then you will see a set of stairs going further up, with a gray railing. Go all the way up this staircase and you will reach the grind. It is well-preserved.
The Fan Sin Temple
There is only one temple in Hong Kong dedicated to Fan Sin and it is this one in Tai Po. Fan Sin is the God of Potter. According to descriptions at the Wun Yiu Exhibition, this temple was built before 1790 during the Qianlong reign. The 16th generation ancestor, Ma Choi Yuen, of the Ma clan invited Fan Sin from Guangdong to come here and protect the potters.
Villagers used to celebrate the Fan Sin birthday on the 16th of each fifth month on the lunar calendar with significant festivities such as operas. Now the celebrations are simpler with a ceremony and communal offerings.
Next to the Fan Sin Temple proudly stands the Wun Yiu Public School.
The stone plaque Ng Sheung Dai stands before it. According to introduction on site, Ng Sheung Dai was a private study for the Wun Yiu Village. The five Ma ancestors with the name “Sheung” established the private study during the Daoguang Reign of the mid-Qing Dynasty (“ng” means five in Cantonese, therefore the school name was dedicated to these five Ma brothers).
In the 1930s, Ng Sheung Dai evolved into a public school called Man On School, and provided full-day primary education for the villagers. However, education ceased completely during the war years.
The current site was established in 1949 as the first school ground for Wun Yiu Public School. The school had its heyday during the 1960s and 1970s. There were many students and the school had to expand its campus. As such, it has educated the modern generations of the Wun Yiu villagers. Due to the push for urbanization, the Wun Yiu Public School ceased in 1994. As the school building was preserved, the villagers collected the funds to restore it in 2014.
Finally, I highly recommend doing both the Hong Kong Railway Museum and the Wun Yiu Exhibition in the same day, as I did. I spent about 1.5 hours at both locations and it will make a heritage trip out to the New Territories more than worthwhile.
Green top minibus Route 23K runs between the Tai Po Market Station and Wun Yiu. Get off at the Wun Yiu stop, then cross the street. You will see these following views, with the aqueduct and the bridge. Cross the bridge, and you will see the signs pointing to the Wun Yiu Exhibition and the Fan Sin Temple.
This is the staircase that will lead you to the Fan Sin Temple and the Wun Yiu Public School. The museum is behind the Wun Yiu Public School.
Historical descriptions on site.
Please refer to the pamphlet of the exhibition here.
The World Ma Clan Culture Data Center, The Wun Yiu Public School in Tai Po, Hong Kong and its History with the Ma Clan.
I spent a delightful 1.5 hours at the Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po Market. I have been there once, but I did not study the museum exhibits last time. This time, I allowed myself a leisurely walk in the museum and the train …
The Temple Hill is known locally as Tsz Wan Shan. It acquired this name due to the Kwun Yam Temple in the area. This day we climbed up to the Digital TV Transmission Tower at the peak of Temple Hill via the Shatin Pass Road. …
Update: As of December 1, 2022, Haw Par Music will cease operation. Haw Par Mansion will be returned to the Hong Kong government on this day. Haw Par Mansion will remain open for public visits, and activities already planned will continue to be held. For details, please see government press release here.
For older generations of Hong Kongers, the Haw Par Mansion was a treasured childhood memory. Its Tiger Palm Garden, accessible for free by the public throughout its 60-year existence, was the first theme park in Hong Kong. It came before the much more benign Lai Yuen and Ocean Park came into existence. Lai Yuen and Ocean Park were more “benign” because the Tiger Balm Garden featured imageries of hell.
The owner had intended it to serve an educational purpose to the visitors. Live a virtuous and benevolent life, lest you end up in hell. The Tiger Balm Garden was demolished in 2004 to make way for high rises in the area.
The Corner Tower on Tai Hang Road. The residential development behind it was where the Tiger Balm Garden used to be
Entrepreneur Aw Boon Haw built the Haw Par Mansion for his second wife Tan Kyi Kyi. While neither of them was from Hong Kong, they loved it here. In 1932, Aw Boon Haw established Tiger Balm’s second largest production facility in Hong Kong. The Haw Par Mansion was their home in Hong Kong.
The mansion, along with the public park, began construction in 1933 and completed in 1936. The park was open to the public for a good sixty years. But the Mansion remained the private residence for the Aw family until the 1990s.
The word Haw means “tiger” and Par means “leopard.” They came from the names of Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, who were brothers. Together they inherited their father’s small herbal shop in Rangoon, and founded the Tiger Balm enterprise in Southeast Asia. Although the younger brother’s name appears on the mansion, ownership of Hong Kong’s Haw Par Mansion belonged only to the older brother, Aw Boon Haw. “Boon” means gentle.
During the 1990s, the owner sold the whole property, including both the public garden and the private mansion, to Cheung Kong Holdings. The Hong Kong Government then stepped in to negotiate with Cheung Kong Holdings to preserve the Haw Par Mansion. The mansion came under government management and ownership in 2001. Its history and architectural features were the outstanding merits that resulted in a Grade 1 Historic Building protection in 2009 under the Antiques and Monuments Ordinance.
For a somewhat convoluted history of the Haw Par Mansion’s sale to Cheung Kong and the subsequent government takeover of the property, Wikipedia has an entry here. I shall not delve into this history.
In 2019, the Haw Par Mansion opened its doors to the public for the first time. It now serves as both a museum and the venue for music training and events for Haw Par Music (see below). Free public tours of the site are available, with a choice in Cantonese or English, but advanced booking is required. I highly recommend this tour, as the tour guides are well-versed in all aspects of the Haw Par Mansion. It also allows access to rooms in the mansion that are not open to public.
The Main Hall at the Haw Par Mansion now serves as the museum displaying exhibitions
Despite the demolition of the public garden, the Haw Par Mansion and its private courtyards were preserved. I joined a guided English tour. On that day, both the Cantonese and the English groups were fully booked. Then we had a 1.5-hour conversation about the history, appreciation and features of the Haw Par family, the Haw Par Mansion and the Tiger Balm Garden.
On the ground floor entrance, a few signature items are on display. These were all original items at the Tiger Balm Garden.
Throughout the tour, we saw a number of other items that the government managed to salvage from the Tiger Balm Garden demolition. The tour guide told us that Cheung Kong gave the government just three weeks to take anything it could before the demolition. I vaguely remember that there were 200 such pieces, many of which were statues and figurines. Some of them are still in storage. The restoration of the Haw Par Mansion continues to this day. It is sad, however, that the demolition did not spare the beautiful Tiger Pagoda.
Original figurines at the Tiger Balm Garden: The Weaver and the Cowboy from Chinese folklore
We took the elevator up a few floors to reach the courtyard area of the Haw Par Mansion. Right at the entrance lies a re-created marble mural featuring the Ten Courts of Hell. This was a tribute to the theme of hell at the Tiger Balm Garden. The recreated imageries were modeled after the originals in the Tiger Balm Garden.
We then proceeded to the beautiful front yard, the design of which comports with the general style of the Chinese eclectic in the mansion.
See below for more.
The building, in its exterior and interior, shows the distinct influence of the Chinese eclectic style. This means that the design has fused prominent elements of eastern and western traditions—and not only Chinese and western, but Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Italian and other western themes that Aw Boon Haw himself had appreciated in his life. Our tour guide pointed us to many special features of the building to illustrate the Chinese eclectic style.
Views of Haw Par Mansion at the formerly private garden
In the formerly private courtyard of the mansion, we saw a beautiful fountain. This was the first illustration of the Chinese eclectic style on the tour. The Romanesque fountain would keep the water flowing on the main axis of the mansion. The Chinese element was the statue on top, showing a boy holding a koi. In Cantonese culture, both water and koi are symbols for wealth.
Of the beautiful mansion, I liked the Moon Gate the most. The Moon Gate is the circular main gate in the front and back of the mansion. Although the front moon gate faces the garden, the back moon gate was actually where the Aw’s entered their home. Both feature beautiful stained glass.
Again, there is that mixture of eastern and western influences here. In Chinese culture, the full moon represents unity. But note that the original creator of these bird patterns was Italian. The stained glass shows western imageries. The panes came from the stained glass decoration specialist Tolleri in Florence, Italy, and it is no longer feasible to find the same firm to replace them now. The best that the government can do in terms of preservation is to find artists to mend the paint the best they can.
The moon gates as viewed from the interior of the Haw Par Mansion. The tigers on the left are original patterns. The right photo shows the patterns on the back moon gate.
The only other moon gate in Hong Kong is in the Cheung Chau Hospital. That is because the hospital was founded with the donation of the Aw brothers.
Much of the furniture on show in the Haw Par Mansion now were the original pieces, and they were donations from the Aw family.
The interiors of the main hall and the dining hall were surely a show of wealth for the Aw family. For there was no lack of gold in the décor, serving as the auspicious token to bring in more wealth. The ceiling is gilded in real gold.
The glistening gold of the Dining Hall
This bathroom color-themed in green and pink shows the most luxurious in those times. All pieces in the master bathroom are original. The bidet is rarely seen in Hong Kong. The aged green color gave a surreal impression. All the features belong to a generation bygone, yet they remain an evergreen classic in our times. The master bathroom is a glimpse of Mr. Aw Boon Haw’s taste, for everything here had to meet his requirements.
Both the first and second wives of Aw Boon Haw did not bear any biological child. Therefore the first two wives have both adopted children. The adopted daughter Sally Aw Sian in Hong Kong eventually became the owner of seven newspapers, including the best-known Sing Tao Newspaper and the Standard. She has told many interesting stories about her mother’s lifestyle in the Mansion.
For example, there is a family vault inside the master bedroom of the mansion. Its original use was to keep the family’s valuables. However, in the 1940s or so, banks have risen to become the main keeper of family heirloom. So then what did her mother keep in this family vault? Sally Aw said common items, like toilet paper. It was a very humorous point on this tour, as toilet paper was much sought-after during the early times of the pandemic. Mrs. Aw certainly had the foresight of its value.
Photos: the family vault in the master bedroom is fire-proof.
The Haw Par Mansion was revitalized under the auspices of the Hong Kong Government’s Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme, the Aw Boon Haw Foundation and the Haw Par Music Foundation Limited. It is the first music school in Asia specializing in chamber music.
Besides musical training, Haw Par Music also provides music therapy. There are social initiatives, including the provision of scholarship to those in need to pursue musical training. The Haw Par Mansion serves as the venue for free concerts.
These two pieces show the Burmese influence in the Chinese eclectic style at Haw Par Mansion
I visited the Stone House Family Garden a week after my tour at the Haw Par Mansion. The Stone House Family Garden was a tenement for the refugee settlers in Hong Kong after WWII. The Haw Par Mansion, on the other hand, was home to one of Southeast Asia’s richest families. It goes without saying that there is a stark contrast between the two. I would say that the same area in the Stone House that gave home to thirty people at one time, would make only the bathroom in the master bedroom at Haw Par Mansion. This is the portrait of Hong Kong. Space is a direct measure of one’s wealth. While it does remain true today, it was true to a much larger extent back then.
That is not to say that the Aw family has made no commitment to the welfare of Hong Kong. Quite the contrary. Besides this beautiful building and the public park that existed before demolishment, the Aw Boon Haw family has made quite a number of charitable donations in Hong Kong. As mentioned above, the Cheung Chau Hospital was the result of an Aw Boon Haw donation. There are also schools named after Mrs. Aw Boon Haw in Hong Kong. And finally, there is Haw Par Music now.
The address of Haw Par Music is 15A Tai Hang Road.
The green top minibus Route 21M runs from Lan Fong Road (Lee Theatre 1) in Causeway Bay. Get off at the Serenade stop, where you will see the sign 15A and Haw Par’s trademark tiger just a few steps ahead. Otherwise, buses 11, 41A and 63 also stops at the Serenade stop.
The Free Public Tour of Haw Par Music
Descriptions on-site.
The website of Haw Par Music
The Wikipedia on Tiger Balm Garden (Hong Kong).
On this beautiful autumn day I took a walk from Chuen Lung Village to the Shing Mun Reservoir via the Lung Mun Country Trail, ending at the Pineapple Dam. I have previously walked part of the Lung Mun Country Trail when I became lost in …