SECRETS

Pok Fu Lam Village

The last standing pre-colonial village on Hong Kong Island

If you’ve ever driven or walked past Pok Fu Lam Road, way past the Christian cemetery and slightly farther of Béthanie, you can easily see the big cluster of shacks with tiled ceilings and telephone wires spread across the roofs like intricate spider-webs. In passing, none of us would probably pay much attention to these slum-like looking houses. But Pok Fu Lam Village has more than meets the eye.

The first written account of Pok Fu Lam village was in 1819, decades before the British settlers arrived. The village was one of the only two villages on Hong Kong Island, the other being Aberdeen village further south. Today, it is the only village left on the island. Loose accounts trace back to the 1670s, when several clans fled from China and settled in Hong Kong after a revolt against the ruling emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

The original settlers formed a tight-knit community. Unlike the clumps of houses we see now - the village then occupied much more territory, from Waterfall Bay (near Cyberport today) to the White Tiger Mountain. Villages were blessed by Hong Kong’s preurbanisation landscape and abundant natural resources. Streams that flow into the Bay allowed the villagers to cultivate rice and other vegetables, supporting their idyllic and selfsufficient life.

The village faced its first mass transformation when British Settlers arrived. Around the area, churches, reservoirs and mansions were built and mountains were renamed into anglophile-friendly alterations. The biggest change was without doubt in the late 19th century, when a dairy farm was established next to the village. The land became a huge farm which feed herds of cows. But this was a change for the better as the dairy farm, became a kingpin in the area and employed half of the villagers.

Post-war, the village slowly turned into what we see today. With rapid urban developments around Hong Kong Island, the village map shrunk dramatically and nowadays Pok Fu Lam struggles to live up to its former glory. Government notices for redevelopment are breathing down villagers’ necks. The houses and structures of the village are under-maintained and deeply-unappealing in juxtaposition with modern estates nearby. Studies conducted by journalists and developers reveal that the village faces serious risk of demolition.

There have been concerns that this valuable piece of history will be shamefully wiped out. However, in 2014, the village earned a place on the World Monument Fund WatchList and since then, programmes have been launched to restore old houses and upgrade the village community. Watch this space to see how Pok Fu Lam village develops over the coming year.

Want to visit this historic village in person? Take bus 40M, 37A from Central and get off at Pok Fu Lam village.