Tai Hang – Lin Fa Kung Street West ca.1971

‘Open the windows to behold the sea; the moon shines upon Lin Fa Kung, then sets by Tang Lung Chau (also known as Kellett Island).’

‘From afar, the mountains unfold their beauty; listening in the vicinity, the water softly murmurs.’

Beside the windows and next to the entrance of the Lin Fa Kung Temple, these couplets, moulded in plaster, describe the scenery of Tai Hang in the early years of the temple.

Lin Fa Kung (literally, the Lotus Temple) was constructed around 1863, nestled in a corner of Tung Lo Wan Road. Along the road, there used to be low-lying farmland, with a view of un-reclaimed Causeway Bay from afar (across the area that is now Victoria Park) and the island of Tang Lung Chau (that is Kellett Island) on the horizon. The front hall has a double-eaves-tended roof in a half-octagonal shape. A close examination of the base of the temple shows that the building is supported by an arched stone structure, like the stilt houses in Tai O. The main hall also sits on a large boulder, where according to local legend, Kwun Yum, revealed herself, leading to the temple’s construction for worshipping the deity. The temple’s elevated interior structure is unique, possibly due to the low-lying terrain, which was prone to flooding during rainy and typhoon seasons. As the nearby roads and adjacent land were raised during urban development, the temple’s foundational structure can no longer be fully seen, and it stands much farther from the harbour today.

Nowadays, Lin Fa Kung is still a hub of folk beliefs and festive rituals. For instance, on the 26th day of the first month in the Lunar Calendar, the Kwun Yum Treasury Opening Festival takes place, during which people worship Kwun Yum to secure ‘loans’ and increase their wealth. Moreover, the Fire Dragon team worships Kwun Yum at the commencement of the Fire Dragon Dance each year and consecrates the dragon with an eye-dotting ritual.

Photo courtesy of Special Collections, The University of Hong Kong Libraries

In the mid-20th century, the hillside behind Lin Fa Kung was one of the most overcrowded places in Tai Hang. The Mainland was socially unstable after the Second World War, and many immigrants fled to Hong Kong. Some of them settled on the hillside in Tai Hang, building simple squatter houses. They made a living working in traditional industries, reclaimed mountainous areas for farming and raising pigs, or setting up small manufacturing workshops producing electric fans. An informal economy presided over the hillside in the 1950s. There were underground gambling stalls, commonly known as dai dong, and the newspapers called the area “the red light district of Causeway Bay”. Most Tai Hang residents avoided the area. There was an apparent division between the hillside dwellers and the local community, so they remained separate.

Infrastructure was lacking on the hillside. The dwellers had to go down the hill to get fresh water. Living conditions were harsh. There were frequent fires, poor security and widespread overcrowding. In the 1970s, the government gradually demolished the squatter areas and resettled the dwellers.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Ko Tim Keung

Chinese Rhenish Church Wanchai

Tai Hang residents have actively engaged in traditional folk religion practices, such as worshipping in Lin Fa Kung and participating in the Fire Dragon Dance. There are also other religious organisations serving the Tai Hang community, one of which is the Chinese Rhenish Church Wanchai, located next to Lin Fa Kung. The Church purchased a land lot adjacent to the hillside behind Lin Fa Kung, levelled the slope and paved the present Lai Yin Lane. The Church building was completed in 1967.

In addition to religious services, the Church also once operated a kindergarten, and provided leisure classes for Tai Hang residents. Its location next to the hillside behind Lin Fa Kung allowed it to actively serve the hillside community in the 1960s and 1970s. It is said that some gangsters residing on the hillside were annoyed by the noise of the bell ringing before each service, so they threw stones at the Church and broke its windows. Despite knowing what the gangsters had done, the pastor and some members of the church insisted on continuing to visit and preach to the squatter residents. The Church acted as a bridge between the hillside and Tai Hang communities.

Photo courtesy of Government Photo Store, Information Services Department

Causeway Bay Magistracy

In the 1970s, the Causeway Bay Magistracy could be seen from this spot. The building was designed by the architectural firm Palmer and Turner (P & T Group). Construction began in 1958 and was completed in the spring of 1960. It demonstrated the stripped classicism architectural style, popular in public buildings in the period – combining the monumental proportions of classical style with modern construction materials and simplifying the geometric ornamentation on the facade.

In addition to judicial facilities, like the magistrates’ courts, the building hosted the offices of several government departments, including the Social Welfare Department, the Urban Services Department and the Registration of Persons Office which, in particular, was familiar to many residents of Hong Kong Island. Prior to the 1980s, many immigrants from the Mainland had to register and obtain their identity cards there before officially becoming Hong Kong citizens.

Photo courtesy of Government Photo Store, Information Services Department

Intangible Cultural Heritage:

The eye-dotting ceremony of Fire Dragon Dance

Animation:

From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, “aeroplane olives” were very popular. Hawkers would carry green, olive-shaped metal boxes on their backs, calling out and even singing to attract residents’ attention. Customers would throw a coin down from their balconies of the tenement buildings, and the hawker would take out the liquorice olives, which were made of salt, seasoned herbs and liquorice, from the boxes and throw them up to a few storeys high to the customers. As they rocketed through the air, they were called “aeroplane olives”. This became an urban spectacle, attracting a lot of passers-by and neighbours to watch.

At that time, the traditional Chinese-style houses in the Tai Hang community were gradually converted into four- to six-storey tenement buildings, and these scenes of aeroplane olives being thrown up a storey or more become a collective memory of Tai Hang residents and other older people in Hong Kong. Since the 1980s, due to urban development, tenement buildings were gradually replaced by multi-storey residential buildings of more than 10 storeys, so the aeroplane olives gradually disappeared.