Yuen Long District, New Territories

Yuen Long: Walled Villages and Wetlands in the North-West

Yuen Long fills the north-west corner of the New Territories, a wide alluvial plain that is the largest in Hong Kong. It is a district of two faces: the busy market streets of Yuen Long Town and the planned new town of Tin Shui Wai on one side, and on the other an open landscape of fishponds, farmland and old villages that reaches to the shore of Deep Bay. The Tang and Man clans settled this plain centuries ago, and their walled villages, ancestral halls and pagodas still stand among the fields. Few places in Hong Kong show the territory's rural past as clearly as Yuen Long does.

The best place to start is the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, Hong Kong's first heritage trail, opened in 1993. In about a kilometre it links the historic buildings of the Tang clan in Ping Shan, including the Tang Ancestral Hall and the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda, a tower that has watched over the plain for centuries. At Kam Tin, Kat Hing Wai is one of the best known walled villages in Hong Kong, built by the Tangs some 500 years ago as a walled rectangle of homes. Nature lovers head for Mai Po Marshes, an internationally important wetland where migratory birds rest and feed along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, and for the Hong Kong Wetland Park and Nam Sang Wai nearby.

The good thing is that you can hire a limousine for the day and leave all the driving to someone else. The villages, the trail and the wetlands are spread across a wide plain, and a car lets you link them in a single relaxed day instead of working out bus routes between them. You can stop at a walled village, walk the heritage trail, and still reach the wetlands in time for the afternoon light.

Arrive in style

A day in Yuen Long means fresh air, open skies and a lot of walking between historic sites, so it is good to travel in comfort. Your limousine gives you a cool, quiet place to rest between stops, with room for cameras, walking shoes and anything you buy in the town's markets. You arrive at each village and viewpoint feeling fresh, ready to enjoy the place rather than tired from the journey.

Your chauffeur knows the area well and can plan a route from Yuen Long Town to Ping Shan, Kam Tin and the Deep Bay shore, timing each stop so you get the best of the day. The back roads between the villages are easy to miss and hard to navigate, so having a local driver at the wheel makes the whole day smoother. If you want to linger at the pagoda or take a longer walk at the wetlands, the car waits for you.

Old Clans and Open Skies

Yuen Long is at its best in the cooler, drier months, when the light is clear over the plain and the migratory birds gather at Mai Po. The Tin Hau Festival in spring fills the town with parades from the walled villages, and the markets of Yuen Long Town are lively all year round, full of local food and everyday life. Whether you come for the heritage trail, the birds or simply the space to breathe, Yuen Long offers a side of Hong Kong that the harbour crowds never see.

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