Yim Tin Tsai: Hong Kong's moody abandoned Catholic Hakka village

We visited this tiny village in Sai Kung and found that houses slowly falling apart make for a great photoshoot

By Bruce Foreman, Zoe Li, Hong Kong Editor 7 October, 2011

Previous Pause Next

The Hakka houses on Yim Tin Tsai are relatively modern, and were mostly built in the 1950s.

Houses mostly face south to take advantage of the sun for drying and preserving produce.

A possible derelict glamor fashion shoot location.

Unused benches in disrepair accidentally look artistic.

Salt pans were once part of the villagers' livelihood. Coincidentally, Yim Tin Tsai means "little salt farm."

A Sai Kung resident who only wanted to be known as "George" recently rented one of the village houses "for a few thousand dollars a month." He plans to live permanently on the island once he restores the house and readies the fields for farming.

George's house was built in 1956 as the numbers on its facade proclaim.

The church is a testament to the island's historical significance as Hong Kong's first fully Catholic community. By 1875, all villagers on the island had been baptised and a few years later the chapel was built by Joseph Freinademetz.

Decorative mosaic tiles hint at the former homeowner's pride.

Idyllic country home at abandoned-village-prices can be ours if we manage to befriend the village chief.

This one is more spooky than beautiful.

1 of 1

Close to Sai Kung Pier is an island covering barely one square kilometer; it's called Yim Tin Tsai.

The island is abandoned but for a thin stream of weekend hikers, a handful of shop owners and caretakers at a Girl Guides' campsite.

First settled by Hakka people in the 19th century, there were once more than 1,000 villagers living on Yim Tin Tsai.

Today, there isn't much to see here.

The main attraction is St. Joseph's Chapel, a beautiful but simple restored building, which won an Award of Merit at the 2005 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.

But all other buildings on Yim Tin Tsai have been abandoned to nature. The surrounding forest is slowly digesting each village house, creating beautiful tableaus of wild foliage and crumbling walls.

That's why we like to visit the tiny island, for the moody and photogenic abandoned village.

Professional traveler, tea drinker, photographer, writer, environmental scientist and real-foods appreciator, Bruce is based nine months of the year in Hong Kong and three months in Australia.

Yim Tin Tsai: Hong Kong's moody abandoned Catholic Hakka village

you may also like

MOST POPULAR

WEIRD WORLD