Pok Fu Lam Village in Hong Kong
where time still stop at the past.
Pok Fu Lam now is a residential area on Hong Kong island, it located at the Westend of the Southern District. On Geographical location, Pok Fu Lam is a valley between Victoria Peak and Mount Kellett.
Pok Fu Lam Village
At the centre of Pok Fu Lam is an indigenous village, the Pok Fu Lam Village (薄扶林村), the only one of its kind remaining on Hong Kong Island. Often mistaken as a shanty town by the residents of the surrounding apartments, the conservation value of the village has been acknowledged by its inclusion on the 2014 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund.
History
Pok Fu Lam Village is a historic village, which has existed since the beginning of the 17th century. Local residents in the past have repeatedly asked the government to give indigenous inhabitants of Pok Fu Lam the same recognition as residents of the New Territories. These claims have been rejected by the government which also threatened demolition of the village.
In the Kangxi period (late 17th century) of the Qing dynasty, approximately 2,000 people seeking asylum from turmoils in mainland China reached this village. The early villagers, mostly with the surnames of Chen, Huang, and Luo, were farmers. The “Xinan County Journal” of 1819 mentioned that Pok Fu Lam Village was one of three villages on Hong Kong Island (the other were at Stanley and Wong Chuk Hang). It was described as “built alongside the hill and the creek, its structures are quite elegant”. After the Second World War, the massive refugee influx seeking asylum from mainland China reached Hong Kong, resulting in the village population increasing from 20-odd households to more than 100 households. The original vegetable gardens were replaced by houses. It was not until the 1980s, when the Hong Kong economy experienced rapid growth, that the village population began to decrease, but many villagers remain in the village today.
Fire Dragon Festival
The villagers have their own festivals: the annual Fire Dragon Dance, the oldest of its kind in Hong Kong, is held during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and is organised entirely by the villagers, who strive to preserve the unique festival for the generations to come. Ng Kong-kin, master craftsman of the 73.3 metre long dragon, has been making these creatures for more than four decades, and continues to volunteer his time building the enormous beast every year; his brother Ng Kong-nan, supervises the training of the dancers and preparation for the annual celebrations. All villagers participate in the burning of incense and each household is blessed by the dragons as they dance through the village, making the festival a fundamental part of the village life. Many other less well known festivals include Bou Chun Tin, which commemorates Nüwa repairing the Wall of Heaven; Fa San Fuk, a ritual carried out on Lunar New Year’s Eve for good fortune throughout the year; and Jip Nin Gang, when villagers calculate the best time in Chinese feng shui to welcome the new year, and prepare celebratory procedures for the particular moment.
Buildings
The forest village is divided into three parts: Middle is “Wai Chai”, Northern portion is “the vegetable garden”, the village tail is “Long Tzutu”. There are few types of village house. Some are made of stone and hay with Chinese tiled pitched roof. Some Chinese tiled pitched roof had been replaced with galvanised steel roof. Some village houses are made of brick with concrete flate roof or galvanised steel roofs. In addition the village has characteristic towers, named Li Ling Divine Pagoda, is approximately 5 meters high. The existing pagoda was rebuilt in 1916. The first pagoda was built of stone as advised by the elder villagers.
