The Old Well, Tai Po
I have David Leffman and his Rough Guide to thank for this one. Like many things in HK, history is often staring you in the face but you carry on in ignorance until you read a book that opens your eyes (much like Patricia Lim’s book did for me regarding Pan Chung Village).
For quite some time now I have been walking around Tai Po town oblivious to the existence of an old well, and its associated shrine, that sits at the top end of Fu Shin Street. Actually it is easy to miss for the simple fact that it is surrounded by an octagonal wall which encompasses the small “Well God” shrine and the now closed opening to the well.
I’ve subsequently found out that this well is actually the original market well that was dug out when the Tai Wo Market on Fu Shin Street was founded by the Tsat yeuk. This means the well has been there since about 1892! This may explain why it seems to have been afforded some sort of reverence compared to other nearby wells that have since been filled in and built over (like the one that use to sit in the cinema foyer)
Anyway, it’s no longer used for drawing water but still serves as a place of worship for the Well God. The actual hole is now covered by a locked door, I guess to stop curious children (and stupid nosy gwailo like me) from falling in.
January 7, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Glad I finally managed to contribute something new (if trivial) to your blog, rather than just parasitising it!
Seems to have been freshly painted and cleaned up since I was last there. The overhanging tree is a star-fruit (carambola) – what’s the Cantonese name?
January 7, 2010 at 11:43 pm
parasitising! is that a real word? If so it’s a good one and I shall try and drop it into a few conversations in the future – in fact maybe add it to a later entry as a tribute to you
Anyway, star-fruit – yes I can confirm it’s a yeung4 tou2 – cantonese sheik says its 楊桃, but I’ve seen it written as 洋桃. This being Cantonese, they both could be right.
Anyway, it’s a good find. Nice one.