Exploring Above The Water.

Long Valley Wetlands.

On Thursday I took a stroll down to Wellcome Supermarket, through Siena Park. I passed a tall grey heron looking for fish in the ponds. There's usually a lot of wading birds here, but he was the only one I encountered today.

Grey heron.

Although it was a cold, there were lovely bright blue skies, so I stopped to photograph some elegant bauhinia trees.

The national flower of Hong Kong.

The national flower of Hong Kong.

I suddenly realised that there were butterflies everywhere. I later googled them and I think these are Painted Jezebel Butterflies. They weren't easy to photograph as they seldom seemed to stay still for long.

Painted Jezebel on an impatiens flower.

Painted Jezebel on an impatiens flower.

Painted Jezebel on a black-jack plant.

Painted Jezebel on a black-jack plant.

When I reached the North Plaza, I noticed some kumquat trees on display, ready for Chinese New Year, so I photographed them, too.

Kumquat trees.

Kumquat trees.

On Friday my friend Lai had very kindly invited me to Sheung Shui where her family are from. Sheung Shui is right at the top of the North East New Territories, very close to the border of Mainland China. Apparently Sheung Shui means 'Above the Water' and I'm guessing that this may be because it is located on several different rivers.

Lai and I had arranged to meet at 10.30am at Sheung Shui MTR Station. This turned out to be an extremely busy and confusing station, so we began our day with an unintentional game of musical MTR exits. I think I started it by texting: "I can't find exit A." To which Lai replied: "Just go to any exit." I replied: "I am now at Exit D." Lai replied: "I can't find Exit D. I've gone to A." We then went through several: "Where are you nows?" Until Lai very sensibly sent a very decisive: "Just stay still. I'll come to you!" that resulted in us finally finding each other. Phew!!

We headed off out of the station onto San Fung Avenue, then went into The Golden City Seafood Restaurant for dim sum.

The Golden City Seafood Restaurant.

I was rather impressed with the fancy kettle system in this restaurant. Instead of the waitress bringing tea to the table, there is a kettle next to the table which self fills and heats up rapidly when you press the switch. Pretty neat.

Lai was a natural with the hi-tech kettle.

The kettle at the table next to us didn't work properly and, according to Lai, I could have had a free lesson in Cantonese swear words, if I had only listened to the people there.

We were sitting right next to the restaurant's seafood tanks, so I had to take some pictures of the weird and wonderful creatures inside.

Seafood tanks.

Seafood tanks.

For dimsum we had: cha siu bao - barbecued pork buns, har gow - shrimp dumplings, Chiu Chow fun gor - almost see through sticky vegetarian dumplings, vegetarian spring rolls, ma lai go - a really delicious steamed sponge cake that translates into English as Malay cake, and choi sum - green leafy vegetables cooked in garlic. The food was excellent and very filling. Actually I have made myself hungry just writing about it.

Lai busy ordering. You pick up the list and tick what you want.

Quite a feast.

Yeah, let's eat.

Now with our tummies happy and satisfied, we set out to explore. First, we were heading towards Long Valley.

Long Valley is a natural floodplain that occupies around thirty-seven hectares between the Sheung Yue and Shek Sheung Rivers. At one point this area was filled with paddy fields and, when exporting rice was no longer profitable, the fields were made into fish ponds. Later as fish exports declined, vegetables such as watercress and water spinach were grown here. Then in the late 1990's the KCRC drew up plans to build a flyover on the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line right through the middle of this area. Environmental groups protested against this, due to the damage it would do to Hong Kong's migratory wild bird population and other species. On this occasion the environmentalists won and the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line now goes underground from here.

In recent times the wetlands here have been made into the Long Valley Nature Park. This park consists of twenty-one hectares of biodiversity zone, aimed at protecting various plant and animal species, eleven hectares of eco-agriculture zone, aimed at re-establishing abandoned farm land and five hectares of visitor zone, which will have board walks, information boards and a visitor centre when it is all finished.

Long Valley Wetlands.

Long Valley Wetlands.

Long Valley Wetlands.

Long Valley Wetlands.

Long Valley Wetlands.

At one point we were treated to the rather incongruous sight of a herd of cows grazing in green fields along the banks of the Shek Sheung River with a mass of high-rises in front of them. Looking at it, Lai temporarily forgot the collective noun for cows and called them a team of cows. I loved this. It instantly conjured up an image in my head of the cows getting into two groups and starting to kick a ball around. It's an image that still makes me giggle even now. What a sight that would have been!

Teams of cows limbering up for kick off.

A closer look.

We passed an interesting little building covered with wildlife pictures and also found a convenient place to sit down and enjoy the view.

We liked this colourful building.

Lai at the resting point.

Me at the resting point.

We continued to walk along the narrow Shek Sheung River with the wetlands on our left hand side and the river to our right until we came to an attractive little pavillion overlooking the confluence of the Sheung Yue and Shek Sheung Rivers. A few people were fishing on the river banks here. There were some pretty red flowers. It was beautiful and very peaceful.

Narrow river.

Pipe across the narrow river.

The pavillion.

Lai at the pavillion.

Red Powderpuff Flowers.

Red Powderpuff Flowers.

At the confluence.

At the confluence.

Fisherman.

Then we walked back to Lai's family home. Like most village houses here, Lai's family home was three stories high with a flat rooftop. From the rooftop it was possible to see the skyscrapers of Shenzhen.

The tall buildings in the distance are Shenzhen in Mainland China.

After we had some tea, we went out to look around Lai's village. Her family actually lives in a group of villages known collectively as Sheung Shui Wai.

Lai wandering through the villages.

Gateway.

Houses in the village.

Shrine.

However, the original village here was Wai Loi Tsuen, which was founded by Liu Chung-kit, head of the Liu Clan.

The Liu Clan left their homes in Fujian Province during the Yuan Dynasty to escape war and famine. When they settled here, they built a heavily fortified village to protect them from pirates, bandits and rival clans. Wai Loi Tsuen has strong walls and a deep moat, created by diverting a nearby stream. The villagers lived by farming the fertile plains of the Long Valley. Nowadays it's still possible to wander through the gates of the walled village with their sturdy metal chains. There are lots of narrow alleyways off the main street and the moat is still there on three sides of the village.

Lai at the entrance to Wai Loi Tsuen.

Metal chains on the door.

Looking in to Wai Loi Tsuen.

Narrow alleyways.

Narrow alleyways.

Village cat.

Moat.

Poinsettia.

Washing by the moat. We were having a laugh about how our washing is just washing but other people's washing is picturesque.

Over time the population of Wai Loi Tsuen grew and other villages were built next to it. Although many of the village buildings are modern, a lot of the old buildings have been preserved, too.

Village street with bicycles.

Village street.

One of the most beautiful old buildings is the The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall which dates from 1751. This building consists of three halls and two courtyards. It houses the ancestral tablets of the Liu Clan. Lai pointed out that her brother got married here dressed in traditional Chinese clothes. He must have some wonderful wedding photos.

The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall.

Me in front of The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall.

Doorway of the hall

Close-up.

Me standing by the door.

And sitting by the door.

Lai in the doorway.

Water pump for putting out fires.

Lai sitting in front of some old agricultural equipment.

Agricultural machinery.

Courtyard.

Courtyard.

Us in the courtyard. Sadly I think I look exactly like a sumo wrestler in this picture.

Shrine.

Shrine.

The Liu Clan flag.

Lai's older sister remembers going to school here when she was a young child. At that time the village did not have a separate school, but the Liu Clan placed a high value on education. They raised money and have now built seven schools in the area. They have even raised money to build a school in Wing Ting, the village in Fujian Province their ancestors originally came from.

Lai pointed out that restoration work had been carried out in The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall in recent years. This building has been a declared monument since January 18th, 1985.

We also saw the Liu Ming Tak Tong Ancestral Hall. This was originally built around 1811 but was demolished and rebuilt in 1973. Only the granite door frame is from the original building.

The Liu Ming Tak Tong Ancestral Hall.

Inside The Liu Ming Tak Tong Ancestral Hall.

Inside The Liu Ming Tak Tong Ancestral Hall.

Another interesting building here is the colonial style Old Sheung Shui Police Station which was built in 1902. It stopped being the main police station in Sheung Shui when a new station was built in 1979. It later became a police reporting centre and then a Junior Police Core Club House.

The Old Sheung Shui Police Station.

We also saw an old well, a village shrine, a park and two community centres. An overly friendly dog jumped up on me and tried to lick my face in the park. It was so powerful it almost knocked me over.

An old covered well.

Village shrine.

Village shrine.

Tung Hing Hong Community Centre.

I loved all the old trees that were scattered around the village.

Trees by the water.

Banyan tree

Park.

Playground.

All too soon it was time for me to go home. I had a quick look in the Landmark North Shopping Mall to see if they had Chinese New Year decorations on my way back to the train station.

Landmark North

Landmark North.

I had wanted to see the old buildings of Sheung Shui for a long time. It was a real privilege to be taken around them and told all about them by a member of the Liu Clan. Thank you for a great day out, Lai.