I would like to introduce Tsang Tai Uk to all of you. Tsang Tai Uk is a Hakka walled village in Hong Kong. It is one of Grade 1 historic buildings. It located in Shatin closed to the south of the Pok Hong Estate and not far from the Lion Rock Tunnel Road.
Tsang Tai Uk bulit in the 1848 as a stronghold for the Tsang Clan. It is the best-preserved Hakka fortified village in Shatin. It is said to have taken 20 years to bulit with granite, grey bricks and solid timber. Tsang Tai Uk consists of 3 rows of house arranged to from a rectangle. All the house are interlinked by passages and small courtyards. On the fortified walls, there are embrassures and loopholes. And defensive towers were bulit at the 4 corners to ward off enemies. At the Northern wall, there are 3 arched entrances. The main or ceremonial entrance in the middle leads to the ancestral hall in the innermost row of houses, where ceremonies take place. In the old days, villagers winnowed and dried their havest in the massive courtyard in front of the house.
King Law Ka Shuk was one used as a study hall, now it is serving as the function of ancestral hall of the Tang clan in Tai Po Tau for over one hundred years. It still serves as a venue for clam members to hold meetings and traditional functions. It is believed that the building was bulit in the Ming Dynasty to commemorate the Tangs' tenth generation ancestor Tang King-law. King Law Ka Shuk was declared a monument in August 1998.
