Nga Tsin Wai: Is Kowloon's last walled village worth fighting for?

Nga Tsin Wai village is dwarfed by the surrounding residential buildings.

Hong Kong is about to lose a 650-year-old piece of history. Kowloon’s last remaining walled village, Nga Tsin Wai, is slated for redevelopment by the Urban Renewal Authority, which plans to demolish most of it for two apartment towers and a heritage-themed park. 

Nga Tsin Wai was established by the Ng, Chan and Lee families in the mid-14th century. At the time, the village was located near the harbor, so in 1352 the families built a temple in honor of the sea goddess Tin Hau. In 1724, walls were built to protect the village from pirates.

Since then, the seaside has vanished, replaced by the Kai Tak Airport, and so have the defensive walls. But the village layout remains more or less the same as it was hundreds of years ago, with three narrow streets and six laneways lined by small tile-roofed houses.

When we first visited Nga Tsin Wai more than two and a half years ago, we were greeted with a warning: “This whole place is going to be gone soon,” one resident told us.

Returning last month, though, we found things more or less the same as they had been. URA spokesman Jimmy Sha tells us that 65 percent of the village’s properties have already been acquired, but progress has been slow, and it could still be more than a year until redevelopment gets underway.

When that happens, the URA promises to preserve historic relics like the village gatehouse, temple and ancestral hall, along with a handful of old village houses. They will be incorporated into a “conservation park” that highlights the village’s history and could include community and art space.

But few are impressed by the initial proposal. The Conservancy Association has issued a statement criticizing its vague approach to conservation. Choi Yan-chi, one of the founders of the nearby Cattle Depot Artists’ Village and a longtime Kowloon City resident, says it’s just the latest in a line of historic Kowloon villages that have been torn down, from Diamond Hill Village to the old Kowloon Walled City. “This is the oldest one left and we want it to stay,” she says. 

For now, village life goes on, even as houses are torn down and the number of villagers dwindles. From afar, the village appears lively, ringed by grocery stores, outdoor barbers and hawkers. But the atmosphere changes when you pass through the village gate. Rubble and construction hoardings have taken the place of many houses. Grass grows from the old tile roofs of the remaining buildings, a reminder of the long-vanished countryside.

When we visit, we emerge from the gatehouse’s haze of incense and are greeted by a chatty old woman who calls herself Wong Poh-Poh -- grandma Wong. She instructs us to head straight for the temple. “Before you do anything else, go pay your respects to Tin Hau,” she says.

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Gates to the village.