Tsang Tai Uk

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.

Mudskippers & flidder crabs in the Hong Kong Wetland Park (Natural heritage)

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  Remember the last time we mentioned about the Hong Kong Wetland Park which is a natural heritage? This time, I want to share some more photos and videos about the Mudskippers and the flibber crabs in the park. The Mudsskippers are lovely and interesting. Hope all of you will love it!!

The day we went to the HK Wetland Park is a pretty sunny day and we went here by Sunny's car!! =p

 

We took many photos that day and in the photo, you can see our team members Jerry and Mandy Suet. Jerry is a Canon cameras supporter!!

The below photo is Fung. He loves his Canon 550D very much. Can you see he is smiling to his camera!?

Here is the main entrance of the park. Can you see Jerry (in white T-shirt) in the right hand side photo =D?

We buy 6 student tickets for HK$15 each!!

Now, we come to the real wetland, we can observe the Mudskippers on the wood bridge! Let see the video below:

You can see the Mudskippers and fiddler crabs on the wetland, isn't it interesting? =))

Here is the narrative about the Mudskipper and the Fiddler crab:

Male fiddler crabs have one claw that is much bigger then the other. They wave this claw to signal to a mate, and warn other males to keep away from their burrow.

This fish uses its front fins to walk or hop along the mud when the tide is out. During courtship or when threatened, it can leap with a flick of its powerful tail.

After we had visited the Mudskippers & the crabs, we went to see the butterflies. Since the land in the Wetland Park is fertilized so many flowers grow brilliantly on the ground and butterflies love it and being attracted! Please enjoy the video =))

Q: And again, we have a question time. I'm Tommy, the phototaker of this posts. Do you know what is my camera model?

A. Nikon P5100

B. Canon P5100

C. Olympic P5100

Sheung Wan Western Market

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Today I had dinner with my friends in Sheung Wan. Before the dinner, we visited one of the heritages in Hong Kong - Sheung Wan Western Market.

I was attracted by the European building style. I believe it is the most beautiful market in Hong Kong. However, the inside of the Market is nothing special than a shopping mall which is an attraction for tourists.

The market locates in 323 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, open between 10am to 12m.n daily.

Facts of Sheung Wan Western Market:

Western Market consisted originally of two separate blocks. The South Block at Queen's Road Central was built in 1858 and demolished in 1980. The remaining North Block, smaller and more compact in design, was built in 1906. It is in Edwardian style highlighted with "bandaged" brickwork on the four corner towers.
When the former Urban Council's market facilities came into operation in 1989, the market building became vacant and was later converted into a traditional trades, arts and crafts centre. It is now managed by the Urban Renewal Authority.

Ref: http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_42.php

King Law Ka Shuk

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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.

How to go there???
It is very convenience. King Law Ka Shuk is near to MTR. It takes xbout 15 minutes to walk to King Law Ka Shuk from Tai Wo MTR station.

Special Stamps of Declared Monuments in Hong Kong

So far I hope you enjoy visiting our blog. If you like the heritages in Hong Kong, surely, you will be interested in the special stamps that I am going to recommend to you.

In September 2007, Hong Kong Post Stamps issued the speical stamps of "Declared Monuments in Hong Kong". One set of stamps covers six famous heritages, which are

1.Tin Hau Temple, Causeway Bay
2.Old Wan Chai Post Office
3.Former Central Police Station Compound
4.Former Yamen Building of Kowloon Walled City
5.Kun Lung Gate Tower, Lung Yeuk Tau
6.Tang Lung Chau Lighthouse



















Personally, I like Tang Lau Chau Lighthouse the most, as I had been there once. It was such a nice building facing the ocean and surrounded by green mountain. I felt so relax. Hopefully, next time I will tell you more about this heritage.

Do you like the stamps?
If you want to collect one set of stamps, you can find it on Yahoo Auction and stamp collection shops.

The Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower

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  Hong Kong was the colony of British before 1997. When I was a kid, I tried to think that London has Big Bang while Hong Kong has TST Clock Tower. This time, I'm going to introduce the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower to all of you!

  Tsim Sha Tsui(TST) was once the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway(KCR) in age of British colony HK. The construction of the Tsim Sha Tsui railway station and its clock tower started in 1913 and were completed in 1915. Since the government plan to build the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Cultural Center later so the main building of the Tsim Sha Tsui station was demolished in 1978 and the station was moved to Hung Hom. However, the Clock Tower of the station was not demolished and was kept in the original place. Nowadays, you can see the clock tower, which is forty-four metres high, proudly stands at the waterfront and harmoniously intergrates with the HK Cultural Center and the HK Space Museum. It becomes a famous landmark in Hong Kong nowadays.

Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, HK     The Big Bang, London, UK

The Clock Tower harmoniously intergrate with the HK Cultural Center and the HK Space Museum.

The Clock Tower at night time, so marvelous, right!?

The Clock Tower at daytime.

Q: What is the height of the Clock Tower?

A. 22 meters

B. 33 meters

C. 44 meters

D. 55 meters

The excellent tramway to The Peak from 1888

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  Peak Tram, existing in many postcards themed Hong Kong, has long been a very very famous sightseeing vehicle to the view of the charming Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The tram starts running on May 30th 1888, attracted 600 passengers on that day. With 122 years operation history, you can say it's a heritage with symbolic meaning to many Hong Kong people, as well as the tourists visiting Hong Kong. Tens of millions of people from every corner of the globe have taken the ride, which affords a uniquely spectacular perspective of the city.

  The Peak is one of the top ten Hong Kong tourist attraction by the HK tourism board because you can appreciate the whole Victoria Harbour view very clearly in Tai Ping Mountain. And the peaktram not only simply serves as the means of transportation to The Peak but passangers can also see the harbour view through the tram big windows during the tram trip.

Here are some photos illustrating the history of the peaktram. We thank to the peaktram company to provide our blog with these photos:

1888-1926

1926-1948

1948-1959

1959-1989

1989-present

The symbol of HK peaktram

 The Peak Tram Lower Terminus is located at the Garden Road, Central.

Q: Just a silly question this time^^! What is the colour of peaktram at present?

A. Red

B. Orange

C. Yellow

D. Green

E. Indigo

F. Blue

G. Purple 

Woo~! Why a heritage can move!?

The heritage: Star Ferry

  When you visit to the Hong Kong Victoria Harbour, you may see some ferries coloured green and white crossing the harbour. It is known as star ferry which is an important part of the commuter system between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, as well as an essential journeys for visitors to view the charmful harbour.

  The ferry crossing is hailed as one of the 50 must visit places of a lifetime by The National Geographic Traveler. Star ferry ride is also well known as one of the world’s best value-for-money sightseeing trips.

A star ferry called 'morning star'

We just see a red one!

WOW! A LV star ferry.

This is the star ferry pier at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

This is a view of Wan Chai Star Ferry pier.

The Central Queen Pier, regarded as a collective memory by Hong Kong people, was pull down for the Central reclamation project in 2006. A new pier was then established at the new coastal line.

    The piers location aside the Victoria Harbour.

Q: The Star Ferries with 12 boats in the fleet is a movable heritage in Hong Kong. The Star Ferry traces  its origins to

A.1880
B.1898
C.1901

Pottery Kilns at Wun Yiu in Tai Po

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Wun Yiu, Tai Po was once a center of porcelain industry in the New Territories. As early as the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), clans of Man and Tse had started manufacturing the blue and white porcelain. The Ma clan, a group of Hakka people originated from Changle county in Guangdong province, settled in Tai Po and purchased the kilns from the Man clan in 1674 (the 13th year of Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty). The industry declined in the early 20th century due to the competition from good quality and inexpensive porcelain produced by other coastal kilns in Guangdong. The kilns at Wun Yiu finally ceased to operate in 1932.

Archaeological investigations at Wun Yiu discovered the remains illustrating the complete process of porcelain production such as china clay quarrying pits, water-mills, animal-driven grinder, clay soaking tanks and dragon kilns. They all are important cultural heritage of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Railway Museum (Old Tai Po Market Railway Station)

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History
The Tai Po Market was a fully Chinese style Station. This was established in 1913. There are about a hundred history in China. Moreover, the Tai Po Market Railway Station external features of the facade, roof and decorations were patterned upon a Chinese structure. However, Tai Po Market Railway Station was designed to function likes a railway station.


Now
Now day, it was established a Hong Kong Railway Museum for Hong Kong people to remind their memory.

↑↑ The retired Sir Alexander diesel locomotive (#51)

↑↑ Steam locomotive W.G.Bagnall 0-4-4T

↑↑ The ticket office

↑↑ Inside the 1911 third-class compartment



The simulate sound of train operation

Question:
Which local TV Drama shoot in the place of this Railway Station?
A.巾幗梟雄之義海豪情
B.讀心神探
C.天天天晴

最近邊套電視劇常取景地方?
A.巾幗梟雄之義海豪情
B.讀心神探
C.天天天晴