Sunday, April 04, 2010

Abandoned Village at Ma Wan (馬灣) - the people

Walking through the streets of Ma Wan Village in a misty rain, there was a strong sense of a haunting, foreboding sense of doom. There were probably 50+ houses there, most of which have been abandoned.

Some were reduced to empty shells already, the roofs having fallen through. Some have been taken over by the roots of banyans.

There were some houses built on stilts, just like those in Tai O, although in a much smaller scale. There were some people still living in one of those houses.

The Tin Hau Temple was still in good shape. In fact, it was clear someone was still worshipping there, and maintaining it well. A big ventilator was installed to remove the smoke generated by the burning incense. The place was clean.

A dragon boat, under covers, was kept in the square in front of the Tin Hau Temple. Another was floating in the bay. A few people were fishing in the rain.

A few families were still living there, watching TV, boiling water, making shrimp paste.

All the stores, restaurants, etc., were closed down, however. There were nothing to eat, unless you consider shrimp paste food.

Two dogs were guarding one of the floating fishing farms. They don’t look abandoned, yet.

Is it really necessary to destroy the village? Surely there must be some way to allow some of the fishermen to retain their way of life?




2 comments:

i-am-cc said...

Hi,
Im visiting hong kong next month and just come this entry, I wanted to ask if you know if this abandoned village is still there??

Thanks!!

x

StephenC said...

I believe some of the houses are still there. But i have not been there for more than a year. I am not quite sure about the situation there.