Village Establishment in the Early Qing Dynasty
The origin of the clan of Mui Tsz Lam can be traced back to Mr. Tsang Hei Yau, the progenitor inhabited in the area. According to the record of Heung Yee Kuk, he arrived at Mui Tsz Lam from Dongguan Qingxi in 1661, the year when the forced evacuation event (known as the Great Clearance) came under Qing rule. At that time, the Qing imperial government commanded its coastal residents to move 30 to 50 miles inland in hopes of cutting off the supply of Zheng Chenggong, an anti-Qing force. The order was officially issued in 1662 at the first year of the Kangxi era. The Commandar of Guangdong Wang Lairen and the Viceroy of the Two Guangs Zhou Youde realized the suffering of civilians from home displacement and requested the lifting of ban. It was in the 8 th year of Kangxi (1669) that residents could return home when the evacuation was rescinded.
Although the elders of Mui Tsz Lam have disseminated the location where Tsang Hei Yau constructed the first cottage, the story related to evacuation and return is never inherited. The “Genealogy of the Wong Clan of So Lo Pun village, Sha Tau Kok, New Terriorities, Hong Kong” (hereinafter referred to as “the Genealogy”) is important evidence to compare with the early history of Mui Tsz Lam. According to the Genealogy, the progenitor of the So Lo Pun village Wong Wai Hing was a Commandar of the Yongan County at Guangdong Province in the late Ming Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty collapsed in 1644, he led his troops southward to prepare for a rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and reestablishment of the Ming Dynasty. He first settled in Hung Shek Mun Village in Sha Tau Kok and later arrived at Mui Tsz Lam, where he became neighbors with the Tsang and Fan families and sustained their life by agricultural activities.
In short, Tsang Hei Yau settled in Mui Tsz Lam in 1661 and then met Wong Wai Hing. It was in 1671 that they cofounded the Lai Chi Wo village. This period overlaps with the Great Clearance, providing a phase of unwritten history that is full of imagination but has no way for verification.
Wong Wai Hing’s selection of Mui Tsz Lam as the location of settlement should be after meticulous considerations on its location and geography. Mui Tsz Lam is in proximity to Tiu Tang Lung, the highest peak in Sha Tau Kok that can overlook the entire Mirs Bay. The village chief of So Lo Pun Mr. Wong Hing Cheung recurred that Wong Wai Hing had established signals with his counterparts in mainland China. When a lantern is hung on the top of the hill, the military forces should reinforce each other, which has also been the origin of the name Tiu Tang Lung (literally means “hanging the lantern”).
After Tsang and Wong established their village in Lai Cho Wo, the population grew day by day. Whilst the Wongs started to relocate to So Lo Pun since its fourth generation, the Tsangs branched out to Ngau Shi Wu and Siu Tan to establish other villages. The grandchildren of Tsang Hei Yau also returned to Mui Tsz Lam and carried on the family.
Sha Tau Kok and Tung Wo Market
After the Great Clearance, the Qing government started recruiting immigrants from all over Guangdong Province to cultivate the land in Xin’an County. The Hakkas living in the central and northern Guangdong without sufficient agricultural land was the largest group migrating southward, where Sha Tau Kok has become their major settlement destination. However, the population of Sha Tau Kok was insufficient to support a market in its early days. The villagers of Mui Tsz Lam had to cross the Robin’s Nest to trade in Shenzhen Market, a market that is more than 10 miles away. Most of their endeavours and profits went to the Shenzhen Market.
In the early 19th century, the Hakka population in Sha Tau Kok gradually increased. They wanted to break the monopoly of the Shenzhen Market owned by the Guangdong people and therefore established a new market. The market was established by the leaders of Wo Hang, Nam Chung, Luk Keng, Tan Shui Hang and Shan Zui and named as “Tung Wo Hui (Tung Wo Market)”, which symbolizes “the harmony of the ten villages in the eastern part of the Xin’an county”.
The Hakka villages in Sha Tau Kok also established “Shap Yeuk＂(Alliance of Ten) based on the foundation of the market association. Mui Tsz Lam, Lai Chi Wo, So Lo Pun, Sam A, Ngau Shi Wu, Kop Tong and Siu Tan collectively forms “Hing Chun Yeuk”, the ninth alliance of the Ten. In addition to prospering the market, the Alliance of Ten also performed public functions such as education, rituals and defence.
Location of Tung Wo Market and Alliance of Ten
As the trading center of the Alliance of Ten, Tung Wo Market naturally become the market venue of Mui Tsz Lam villagers for daily transactions. According to the villagers, renting a boat to take sea route was uncommon in the past, and walking was the sole option. Near Fan Shui Au is a memorial stone tablet “Repair of the trail connecting Lai Chi Wo and Tung Wo Market” (hereinafter referred to as “the Stone tablet”) erected in 1920, hinting that the road from Lai Chi Wo to Tung Wo Market was rugged and difficult to navigate before 1920. Thanks to the generosity of villagers, it was possible to repair the trail in 1920.
The memorial stone tablet “Repair of the trail connecting Lai Chi Wo and Tung Wo Market”
The direction stone near Chu Mun Tin, with inscribed Chinese “The right route to Mui Tsz Lam; The left route to Lai Chi Wo”
This network of ancient trails linking the villages of Hing Chun Yuek and Tung Wo Market has been preserved till now. Some enthusiastic hikers uncovered many ancient trails in the area based on their experience, including the Lai Kuk Ancient Trail, Ma Tang Ancient Trail and Kap Mui Ancient Trail. We also identified the Mui Au Ancient Trail that had been built and used for more than a century. This section of trail, which leads from Mui Tsz Lam to Fan Shui Au via Chu Mun Tin, is made of stone of different sizes and has the pattern of an ancient trail, but has never been recorded. It was an important part of ancient trail network connecting Sha Tau Kok with the Tung Wo Market and was an essential route to the Market for more than ten villages in the area in its heyday in the last century.
Although the name of Mui Tsz Lam villagers does not appear on the Stone tablet, such extended network was probably a matter of common will. According to Mui Tsz Lam villager Tsang Wai Ching, the ancient trail was constructed by Mui Tsz Lam villagers and was funded by the then wealthy villagers. His mother was also responsible for carrying boulders up the mountain, which was a work that can be charged one cent per trip. These boulders were used to lay the steps up and down the mountain to strengthen the ground and prevent soil erosion.
Mui Tsz Lam in the Early Twentieth Century
In 1898, the British requested the Qing government to extend the boundary of Hong Kong. On June 9, 1998, the two sides signed “The Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory” (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”). The map included in the Convention illustrated that the boundary in the northern New Territories is the shortest straight line from Sha Tau Kok sea to Shenzhen Bay, whereas the land in the South of this marker is leased to the Great Britain for 99 years as the “New Territories”. Sha Tau Kok has since been divided into two.
Tung Wo Market, together with some villages of the Alliance of Ten including Sha Yu Chong and Yim Tin, remained in the Chinese boundary. Other villages in the remaining eight Yeuk, including Mui Tsz Lam, were fell within the British boundary. In the early years, the border control was laxed and the residents of two places were still closely connected. Villagers of Mui Tsz Lam once recurred that their grandparents would still go to Tung Wo Market for transactions and pay tribute to their ancestors in Dameisha and Xiaomeisha in the Chinese border during Ching Ming Festival.
Back to the Convention, the British did not rush to take over the New Territories, but first appointed J.H. Stewart Lockhart to conduct a comprehensive survey on the place. After approximately a month of survey and investigation, Lockhart issued the “Lockhart Report on the New Territory”. The report is very extensive and gave a brief description of the physical and human geography of New Territories, including the names of villages and number of villagers in the place. Due to time constraints of the survey, the report did not cover all villages in the New Territories. Only Lai Chi Wo and Sam A was registered in the report in Hing Chun Yeuk, Sha Tau Kok. In addition, Lockhart realized the problem of ambiguous land ownership in the New Territories and considered conducting land survey and dealing with land ownership issues were the priorities to establish taxation system.
The then governor Sir Henry Arthur Blake issued notice to village representatives and informed them government officials will visit each district for land registration. Land owners would only receive proofs on their identity as land owners after they pay land rents. Meanwhile, the colonial government started to conduct land surveying exercise. The New Territories and New Kowloon was divided in to 477 Demarcation District and Survey District, whereas Mui Tsz Lam was under the Demarcation District 141.
On March 27, 1905, the British Hong Kong Government registered the land of Mui Tsz Lam Village in the form of a Block Crown Lease. The lease contains the survey result, the terms of lease, land owners, lot number and area, land description, rent to be paid and various information. With these records, we can get a glimpse of the situation of Mui Tsz Lam in the early years.
Mui Tsz Lam in the early twentieth century was much larger than what can be seen today. The village consisted of a row of houses, dung hut, grain farm, cultivated land, padi and waste area, which reflects the unadorned agricultural life of Mui Tsz Lam villagers in the past.
The Second World War and Post-war Period
Japanese intelligence work on Hong Kong began as early as 1923 after the end of Anglo-Japanese alliance. As the relationship between the United States and Japan deteriorated in 1941, the Japanese formally prepared to invade Hong Kong. The mountain trail between A Ma Wat and Mui Tsz Lam was once used by the Japanese army during their invasion. After the fall of Hong Kong, the Imperial Japanese government established Hong Kong Gendarmerie that was responsible for security, intelligence work and military ruling. As guerrillas were active in the Sha Tau Kok area and villagers once kidnapped Japanese interpreters, the Japanese army had raided Wu Kau Tang, Lai Chi Wo and other neighbouring areas several times.
The villagers of Mui Tsz Lam also talked about the Japanese disturbance to their grandparents. The Japanese army once came to the village and asked the villagers to report the name of the guerrilla members. Villagers were driven out of their houses to sit on the ground while the army searched for guerrilla members house by house. During the occupation period, the area was an important base and guerrilla area of the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column, in which the heroic contribution of the martyrs is now commemorated by the Wu Kau Tang Martyrs Memorial Garden. Village chief of Mui Tsz Lam also remembered that one of his older cousin was a member of the “Little Ghost Team” of the guerrilla force.
After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the British Hong Kong government requested the Chinese government to reestablish the boundary marker on Chung Ying Street that was removed by the Japanese Army. That being said, Chung Ying Street was still a place where residents can freely commute to. The agricultural activities, family and friend visiting, economic transactions and various activities between China and the British Hong Kong has never been interrupted.
By that time, Tung Wo Market was no longer the frequented market for the Sha Tau Kok residents. Though residents were allowed to freely enter and leave the border area, goods were subjected to customs duties. Coupled with the construction of Sha Tau Kok Railway and Sha Tau Kok Highway in the early twentieth century, the connection between Sha Tau Kok and Fanling has been strengthened. Merchants in Tung Wo Market moved their business to Chung Ying Street, which later formed the Sha Tau Kok Market. Tung Wo Market thus had gradually declined.
The lax border management continued till the 1950s. After the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1951, the Hong Kong government designated a large area of land adjacent to Shenzhen as Frontier Closed Area for the purpose of smuggling prevention, requiring non-Sha Tau Kok villagers to apply for permission to enter and exit the area, thus severing the connection between Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen. With the political ideology to take Hong Kong Island as the major political and economic center, Mui Tsz Lam and villages in Hing Chun Yeuk has become rural area.
The inconvenience of transportation and access restriction on Frontier Closed Area has indirectly hampered the development of Mui Tsz Lam. In addition, the economic reformation of China from the 1970s resulted in a drastic decline in the competitiveness of local agricultural products, prompting villagers to migrate to the United Kingdom and other European countries to earn a living. By the 1980s, there were basically no villagers living in Mui Tsz Lam.
In recent years, some overseas villagers have returned to Hong Kong, while some others retired. They often go back to Mui Tsz Lam to tidy up the place. A group of volunteers, who are fond of Mui Tsz Lam, are also recruited to assist the re-establishment of the village. In 2019, CLP restored electricity supply in Mui Tsz Lam. Countryside Conservation Office, which was established in 2018, repaved the path between Lai Chi Wo and Mui Tsz Lam. The office also has launched the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme, which encourages non-profit organizations and villagers to collaborate on promoting diversified and innovative countryside conservation activities. The Scheme has brought about significant changes to Mui Tsz Lam.
Timeline of Mui Tsz Lam
The progenitor of the village Tsang Hei Yau migrated from Qingxi, Dongquan to Mui Tsz Lam
The Qing imperial government commanded for the Great Clearance to cut off the supply of anti-Qing force led by Zheng Chenggong
The order of Great Clearance entry into force
The Qing imperial government forced another inland evacuation
The Governor of Guangdong Wang Lairen and the Viceroy of the Two Guangs Zhou Youde requested for the lifting of evacuation order
Residents in Guangdong could return home as the evacuation was rescinded
Wong Wai Hing and Tsang Hei Yau jointly built Lai Chi Wo village
The Qing imperial government abolished the order of Great Clearance, Hakkas from Guangdong start migrating to Sha Tau Kok and cultivate the land
Operated mainly by Hakka people, Tung Wo Market was established, becoming a major trading place for Mui Tsz Lam villagers
The British and Qing imperial government signed “The Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory”, which uses Shenzhen river as the boundary marker
The British declared their governance of the New Territories. The ownership of Sha Tau Kok was spilt into two, with Mui Tsz Lam fell into the British governance
The British Hong Kong government issued the Local Community Ordinance and selected village representative to assist in the governance of the New Territories. Hing Chun Yeuk was the seventh sub-district under Sha Tau Kok District, and eight village representatives (including Mui Tsz Lam) was appointed.
Land survey began for identifying land ownership and Mui Tsz Lam is marked as D.D.141
Mui Tsz Lam is registered under Block Crown Lease
First government land on Mui Tsz Lam went into auction
Battle of Hong Kong broke out. The third Brigade of the 229th Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army travelled to Tai Po via the trails in Sha Tau Kok, A Ma Wat and Mui Tsz Lam, Ping Che and Sha Lo Tung
Mui Tsz Lam’s neighbouring areas were attacked by the Japanese army during the Japanese occupation, and the areas became the base of East River Column guerrilla force
Formal note from the Colonial Government to the Nanking National Government, for the re-establishment of the boundary stone at Chung Ying Street that damaged by the Japanese army
Both sides of Government hosted a boundary monument erection ceremony. Residents can still freely enter and leave Chung Ying Street
Korean War broke out. To avoid illegal immigrants and smuggling, the Colonial Government marked the places adjacent to Shenzhen as restricted areas. Unless inhabitants of Sha Tau Kok, all people need a permit to enter the place and the connection between Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen ceased since then
The last recorded official land sale at Mui Tsz Lam
The opening door policy in Mainland China triggered a big pressure to local farm products, hence lots of villagers from Mui Tsz Lam migrated to the UK or Europe for livings
Mui Tsz Lam villagers either migrated or relocated to urban areas. There were basically no villagers living in Mui Tsz Lam
HKSAR proposed a New Nature Conservation Policy. 12 places were selected as priority sites for enhanced conservation. Management agreement and public-private partnership introduced, becoming a prototype of rural conservation
Some hikers reported to environmental groups on tree-felling incident in So Lo Pun village, which has embarked discussion on the conservation of “Country Park Enclaves”
The Government promised to include 54 “Country Park Enclaves” into the boundary of Country Parks in Policy Address.
Ferry service between Ma Liu Shui and Lai Chi Wo launched on 1 January, and the regular Saturday and Sunday schedule has been available since May 2020
The Government approved the “Draft Lai Chi Wo, Siu Tan and Sam A Tsuen Outline Zoning Plan” (S/NE-LCW/2)
Path between Lai Chi wo and Mui Tsz Lam restored by the Countryside Conservation Office
Electricity supply resumed in Mui Tsz Lam
Together with two others project about Mui Tsz Lam, this project is funded by Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme
Life and culture
A village follows the rhythm of season. Whilst there are agricultural activities in a village, the villagers plan their activities according to their daily needs. Community life reflects an order, and villagers learn in different stage of life. From the memories of the villagers of Mui Tsz Lam, we can find the cultural features that shaped the rural environment, lost knowledge as well as hints of different periods.
Spring
Glutinous rice and New Year cake
Glutinous rice is soft in texture after cooked and is a major ingredient in Hakka dessert and snack, for examples, stuffed tea cake, rice dumpling, sweet glutinous rice ball, rice cake and new year cake, or even brewing are commonly produced in Mui Tsz Lam. Villagers usually used glutinous rice flour, rice flour and cane sugar in making new year cake. The size of this cake is bigger comparing to those found in city. The batter is poured into a round bamboo steamer covered with Willd and Chinese alangium for steaming. For every two to three hours stirring of the batter is needed before it is done. New year cake usually takes ten hours to cook. After it is cooled down the cake will be cut into a brick-like shape and then send to friends and relatives.
Hakka mountain tea
Mui Tsz Lam is located on mid hill where humid atmosphere is suitable for tea growing. Villagers recalled that they drank more tea than water in old day. During spring they picked tea leaves for frying, and the tea made – “Mountain tea” – were for domestic use. Tea trees in Mui Tsz Lam almost gone nowadays and the few extant ones are under great care.
Ancestral graves
Villagers used to pay grave visit in Ching Ming and Chung Yung Festivals. Whilst there was no restriction for inbound or outbound and burial areas before 1983, villagers used to select graveyards according to fungshui, usually in village’s neighbouring areas or sometimes as far as Yan Chau Tong, Fan Kei Tok, Dameisha or Xiaomeisha of Shenzhen. Annual ritual ceremonies can strengthen the geographical identity of ethics. As Village Chief Mr. Tsang recalls, villagers used to visit ancestral grave of Tsang Lin Sheung (the third generation of Tsang family whose two sons are keepers of the houses in Upper Row of Mui Tsz Lam) in Shenzhen (now Dapeng Cemetery) by boating when he was a child, and they would pick lots of myrobalan in return trip. The earliest ancestor Tsang Hei Yau was buried in Pak Sha Tau, on the mountain ridge of nowadays Wong Fong Shan in Yan Chau Tong. Villagers of Mui Tsz Lam and Lai Chi Wo used to visit this ancestral grave together. Wong Fong Shan is a mountain located on the southwest part of Crooked Island. It is one of the six treasures of Yan Chau Tong as its contour line resembles the silhouette of an umbrella.
Summer
Ash water rice dumpling
Dragon boat Festival is held in summer and the hot weather during this time wakens poisonous insects. Villagers in Mui Tsz Lam would make ash water rice dumplings by using glutinous rice and Willd, and it requires the skill of storing firewood in winter.
Ash water rice dumpling does not contain any stuffing, and the ash water used for soaking rice is made from liquid mixture of firewood ashes and water. Villagers believed ash water is cold in nature and dumpling can relief the heat of summer. According to the memoir of villager Tsang Fung Tai, villagers in Mui Tsz Lam would use plants or branches for Chinese herbs as firewood in winter, and that include myrobalan, emblic leafflower, water banyan, longan and lychee trees. In mid-April, villagers would use ashes accumulated in stoves to make ash water. Ashes will be sifted and mixed with water. The liquid mixture will then be filtered. The first steep will not be used due to its bitter taste. For the second steep, water taken on the day of Seven Sisters Festival (on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month) will be used, as villagers believe that it more effective in relieving heat.
Haystack
Straws were widely used in village as they can be burnt as fertilizers or materials for making cleaning tools. Villagers in Mui Tsz Lam made haystacks after summer harvest and these haystacks were used to feed livestock in winter.
Forestry License
The history of forestry license can be traced to 1905 when the Colonial Government gazetted the regulation of plantation permit in the New Territories, a strategy to soothe the rural villagers. Jointly issued by the Superintendent of the Botanical and Afforestation Department and the New Territories Vice Land Officer, the Forestry License authorized the holder to plant or fell pine trees in selected areas for burning or commercial purposes or herding and weeding. Forestry License reflects public interest as many of them are owned by a village or traditional clan.
The license limits the quantity of pine trees felled annually and forbids the felling of other species, a way to manage the New Territories forests as well as maintain the New Territories inhabitants’ rights to use these forests. Until 1960 the Government divided the license into plantation area and herding or weeding area. Villagers of Mui Tsz Lam are still holders of the latter type, and that matches their remembrance of herding on hills.
Memories of picking lychee
In the entrance of Mui Tsz Lam is a huge lychee tree which was called “King of lychee of Northeastern New Territories”. It is told that the tree existed before the village was founded. In old day villagers used to graze cattle under the tree, and lychee flourished thanks to the fertilizer from cattle’s waste. According to villagers’ remembrance, lychee facing sunlight are sweeter. Every summer is the harvest season of lychee. Each family was entitled to have ten catties of lychee harvested and the rest would then be sold through auction among the sixteen families in the village.
Autumn
Mitten crab
The rivers near the well are crucial water sources and washing places for the villagers. During festive days villagers used to slaughter chicken and duck near the rivers, and the food remains attract mitten crabs. October is the peak season for the growth of mitten crabs. Villagers used to go to the rivers to catch the crabs and it was very often to get a basket of ten.
Sky lantern in Mid-Autumn
Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three most important celebrations among the Hakka customs, and it is also the period when the villagers are less busy. Usual activities in Mid-Autumn Festival include moon worship, eating mooncake, and carrying lantern, but lighting sky lantern is definitely a special play to those who live in high rise buildings in city. According to the chief of the village, they handmade sky lanterns by using bamboo strips and papers in the old days. The top of the lantern is triangular whereas the bottom is wired into a net-like shape. Villagers would use cotton from old blanket together with kerosine to light the lanterns, after which would expand in size and rise to the air. Sky lantern is prohibited now due to change of ordinance and such tradition is lost nowadays.
Brewing of glutinous rice wine
Hakka women are good at brewing glutinous rice wine. Villagers say that brewing can be made anytime yet the fermentation period varies. It takes longer time to ferment in winter while summer is shorter. The quality of the former is usually better, hence the period after Mid-Autumn Festival to the following spring is the best time for brewing. Apart from home use, villagers also brewed covertly for commercial purpose despite wine trading was a regulated activity. Relics of several brewing workshops can still be found in village todays, amongst which basic equipment such as containers and stove survive in a workshop that is next to a less popular river in north of the village.
Winter
Memories of picking tangerine
Mui Tsz Lam was famous for its plum production. In 1960s and 1970s, local market had increasing demand for tangerine, so villagers switched to tangerine planting. Before Chinese New Year, villagers would put the tangerine into market after trimming, together with couplets and celery sold as a package set for worship purpose. During harvest time villagers in Mui Tsz Lam used to hire helpers collecting tangerines after which would send to city via Lai Chi Wo. One catty of tangerine could be sold for HK$20 at that time. Yet tangerine imported from Mainland China after the Open-Door policy led to the fall of tangerine trade in Mui Tsz Lam.
Pickled food (for winter)
Pickled food is popular in agricultural community as they can be stored for long term consumption. Salty pickled food is even popular amongst agriculture communities who subsist on rice-oriented diet. Rice is high in carbohydrates. It provides energy that support the physical labour required for farming activities. Vegetables are usually grown in autumn and winter and melons in summer. Pickled vegetables, however, are good for all seasons. Pickled food in Mui Tsz Lam include Mustard Green, radish, salted fish is mainly made from mackerel.
Water supply and reservoir
There are two big streams on the sides of Mui Tsz Lam village and the one near the dwellings used to be widely used by villagers. The development of Plover Cove and its catchment areas in 1960 unavoidably ceased the water from the upper river hence a tremendous drop of volume in the two rivers in Mui Tsz Lam. Thanks to the funding and building materials donated by Kadoorie Foundation, villagers of Mui Tsz Lam constructed a reservoir and established a simple water supply system. Till today Mui Tsz Lam is one of the very few places in Hong Kong where a self-sufficient water supply network is found, and cleaning of the reservoir became an annual activity amongst the villagers.
Others
Co-presence of humans and animals
Mui Tsz Lam used to have livestock herding and bee farms. In 1950s and 60s villagers turned those abandoned houses into cattle and pig depots. As free-range herding was practiced these livestock would only return to the depots during nighttime.
Organic fertilizer storage
Recycling of wastes is an essential yet dirty job in modern life. In old days village used to have aqua privies and wastes from human or animals can be easily recycled and turn into fertilizers. In Mui Tsz Lam the organic fertilizer storage is a place where waste is collected. It can be recycled by mixing ashes for fermentation.
Decennial Da Chiu Festival
Hing Chun Yeuk, the ninth alliance that Mui Tsz Lam belongs to, and the eighth alliance Nam Lok Yeuk, are the only two alliances of Sha Tau Kok that still maintain the decennial Da Chiu Festival. The last Da Chiu Festival of Hing Chun Yeuk was held in 2019, with multiple aims of purifying the community, praying for favorable weather and releasing souls from suffering. Da Chiu Festival lasts for four days, with ritual ceremonies in the mornings, vegetarian meals at noon and Cantonese Opera in the evenings. Apart from all sorts of Daoist practices, highlights of the Festival also include inviting Tin Hau from Kat O to Lai Chi Wo, lion and unicorn dances, huge bamboo theatre built in the open square and big feast after the fast. Most of them are intangible cultural heritage. The Festival is a rare opportunity for villagers to get together. Da Chiu