Kat Hing Wai

Kat Hing Wai (吉慶圍) is a famous 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, one of the "Five Great Clans" in the territory, who built the village back in the 1600s.

History

In April 1899, the residence in Kam Tin rebelled the ruling of the British Colonial. They defensed themselves in Kat Hing Wai. After several unsuccessful attacks by the British troops, iron gate was blast open. The gate was then shipped to London for exhibition. Under the demand of the Tang Clan in 1924, the gate was eventually returned in 1925 by the 16th governor, Sir Reginald Stubbs.

Features

Kat Hing Wai is a rectangular (100 m x 90 m) walled village. As a family stronghold, Kat Hing Wai has served the Tangs well through the centuries, protecting the residents against bandits, rival clans, and wild tigers. In the Qing Dynasty, a five-metre high blue brick wall and four cannon towers were added to defend against bandits. Today, the village is still completely surrounded by 18-foot-thick walls, outside which are the remains of a moat. However, most houses within the walls have been rebuilt in recent years. There is only one narrow entrance, with a pair of iron gates that were once removed to Britain when the villagers rebelled against British colonial rule and which only one was eventually returned. The current standing gates are a mismatched pair, the left hand side originally belongs to Tai Hong Wai and was given to Kat Hing Wai as a gift upon the gates return.

Conservation

Kat Hing Wai is a private property and the Government has not yet obtained the consent of its owners to declare it as a monument. [ [http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200204/24/0424145.htm LCQ7: Developing Kat Hing Wai into tourist site April 24, 2002] ]

Access

Route: HK-MTR lines|West Rail Kam Sheung Road Station or KMB bus routes 51, 54, 64K and 251M. [ [http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attraction/at_most_kamt.jhtml discoverhongkong.com (see this page for access details)] ]

ee also

* Walled villages of Hong Kong

References