- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Messages
- 5,574
- Reaction score
- 11,213
This was probably the most disappointing of all the ‘ghost villages’ I went round. Mainly because it was the hardest to get to (a 20km round hike in the 30 degrees heat) plus the fact that there weren’t as many houses and those that there were locked up. My main target to look round was the fort of Fan Lau. It was constructed in 1729. The purpose of the fort was to protect the passage between the island and the Pearl River estuary from pirates. The fort was constructed here because it provided excellent views of the sea and a clear vantage point in case of a potential naval attack. Ironically the fort was eventually seized by the pirates it had intended to repel but was retaken by government forces in 1810. In 1842 when UK forces took possession of Hong Kong and having surveyed it abandoned it in 1898. After a century of neglect it was declared a monument in 1981 and restored in 1985. The rectangular fort is 46 metres by 21 metres and boasted 8 canons manned by thirty soldiers. The nearby village of Fan Lau Tsuen boasted 200 people in its heyday. However most had moved to nearby Tai O and as at 1997 there were only three residents.
On with the pictures. Here’s the ghost village:
img0440 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0442 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0443 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0447 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0448 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0449 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0450 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0451 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0453 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0454 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0455 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0456 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And on to the fort. Although a listed monument it probably gets included in here under the “seldom seen” clause.
img0464 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0458 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0459 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0461 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0463 by HughieDW, on Flickr
On with the pictures. Here’s the ghost village:
img0440 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0442 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0443 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0447 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0448 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0449 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0450 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0451 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0453 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0454 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0455 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0456 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And on to the fort. Although a listed monument it probably gets included in here under the “seldom seen” clause.
img0464 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0458 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0459 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0461 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0463 by HughieDW, on Flickr