Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [70]
Kat Hing is just south of Kam Tin Rd. If travelling from Yuen Long, get off at the first bus stop on Kam Tin Rd, cross the road and walk east for 10 minutes. Alternatively take a taxi from Kam Sheung Rd MTR West station for less than $15.
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TRANSPORT – KAM TIN
Bus Bus 64K stops along Kam Tin Rd on its way between Yuen Long and Tai Po Market MTR East Rail stations; bus 77K also goes to Yuen Long, Sheung Shui and Fanling.
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SHUI TAU TSUEN Map
64K
This 17th-century village, a 15-minute walk north of Kam Tin Rd, is famous for its prow-shaped roofs decorated with dragons and fish along the ridges. Tiny traditional houses huddle inside Shui Tau Tsuen’s walls.
The Tang Kwong U Ancestral Hall ( 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Sat, Sun & public holidays) and the nearby Tang Ching Lok Ancestral Hall ( 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Wed, Sat & Sun) were built in the early 19th century for ancestor worship. The ancestors’ names are listed on the altar in the inner hall and on the long boards down the side. The sculpted fish, on the roof of the entrance hall, symbolise luck; in Cantonese, the word for ‘fish’ (yéw) sounds similar to the word for ‘plenty’ or ‘surplus’. Between these two buildings is the small Hung Shing Temple. South of them is Shui Tau Tsuen’s most impressive sight, the renovated Yi Tai Study Hall ( 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Wed, Sat & Sun), built in the first half of the 19th century and named after the gods of literature and martial arts. The Tin Hau temple on the outskirts of the village to the north was built in 1722 and contains an iron bell weighing 106kg.
There’s been a lot of building in and around Shui Tau Tsuen in recent years – the massive Tsing Long Hwy and the MTR West Rail extension straddle it to the west – and the old sits rather uncomfortably with the new. But the further north you walk beyond the village, the calmer and more tranquil it gets.
To reach Shui Tau Tsuen, which is signposted from Kam Tin Rd, walk north, go under the subway below the Kam Tin Bypass, pass Kam Tai Rd and cross over the river to Chi Ho Rd. Go over the small bridge spanning a stream, turn right and then left to enter the village from the east. The first thing you’ll pass is the Yi Tai Study Hall.
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FANLING & SHEUNG SHUI
A couple of lazy country villages ( Map) just a few years ago, Fanling and Sheung Shui now form one of the largest New Town conurbations in the New Territories, with more than 300,000 inhabitants. Get a feel for what they were once like by walking around the Luen Wo Hu district at the northern end of Fanling. Major sights are thin on the ground here, but there’s an important Taoist temple within easy walking distance and, a short bus ride away, a seldom-visited walled village and the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail. The posh 18-hole Hong Kong Golf Course (Click here) at Fanling will be a draw for some.
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TRANSPORT – FANLING & SHEUNG SHUI
Bus Most onward travel connections depart from, or close to, MTR East Rail stations. Bus 76K to Yuen Long and Mai Po Marsh departs from Pak Wo Rd in Fanling and Choi Yun Rd in Sheung Shui. Bus 77K to Ping Kong stops at Yuen Long Jockey Club Rd in Fanling and Po Shek Wu Rd in Sheung Shui.
Green Minibus Bus 58K heads to Ping Kong from San Wan Rd in Sheung Shui.
MTR Take the MTR to Fanling and Sheung Shui East Rail stations.
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Fanling and Sheung Shui are in the north-central New Territories, much closer to the mainland (5km) than they are to Tsim Sha Tsui (20km). They are linked by San Wan Rd, along which the bulk of buses and green minibuses serving the two New Towns travel.
FUNG YING SIN TEMPLE Map
2669 9186; 66 Pak Wo Rd, Fanling; 8am-6pm; Fanling
The main attraction in the area is this huge Taoist temple complex opposite the Fanling MTR East Rail station, and connected to it by an overhead walkway and subway. It has wonderful exterior murals of Taoist immortals and the Chinese zodiac, an orchard terrace, herbal clinic and a