WHERE TO GO - Hong Kong - page 70

Tsuen Wan
Tsuen Wan is typical of the pattern of development of the New Territories and was the first
new town to be developed in the 1960s to deal with desperate overcrowding in Kowloon
and Hong Kong. Northwest of Kowloon, at the end of an MTR line, this was a rice-farming
area with a small market a century ago, it is now home to 305,600.
Set amid Tsuen Wan's residential towers, a short walk from the MTR station, is the 18th-
century walled village of Sam Tung Uk § [map] . Built by a Chan clan in 1786, it is pre-
served as a museum (Wed-Mon 9am-6pm; free), displaying period furniture and farming
implements, as well as exhibitions on Chinese folk culture. The displays offer an excellent
perspective on life in a walled village and the changes in the area.
The journey from Tsuen Wan to Tuen Mun takes 30-45 minutes by road and the 66M
bus from Tsuen Wan bus station gives great views of the coast and the Tsing Kau and Tsing
Ma Bridges as it winds along the coast. A third of all Hong Kong's beaches are found in a
single 14km (9-mile) stretch of this region's shoreline. Place names are often based on the
distance to the nearest mile-post, as measured from the tip of the Kowloon peninsula. Thus
you find '19.5 mile Beach' at Castle Peak Bay. To the northeast, with a great view over the
New Territories and Guangdong, is Hong Kong's highest peak, Tai Mo Shan (57m/3,140ft).
In Tuen Mun , surrounded by the Tai Hing Estate (beside the Ching Chung Koon LRT
station, look out for bamboo-lined fencing, colourful rooftops and arches), is the Taoist re-
treat of Ching Chung Koon ¶ [map] , which warrants a visit if you are in the vicinity. This
'Temple of Green Pines' is a colouful complex containing temples and pavilions and bonsai.
Apart from making a brief appearance in the opening scene of Bruce Lee's Enter the
Dragon , Ching Chung Koon is a home for the elderly and has memorial halls where ancest-
ors' remains are stored in tiny niches bearing photos, and respects are paid daily.