the original lotus pond

The area of fish ponds between the frontier road and the actual frontier is rapidly being developed, and as a result, huge numbers of eight- and ten-wheeler tipper trucks have been using the frontier road to deliver their loads. One of the results of this exercise has been extensive damage to the road, which was never built to handle such heavy vehicles (it was part of the so-called ‘closed area’ until 2013). The result, from my point of view, has been that we don’t often cycle this way nowadays.

Another casualty of the development—or so I thought—was a lotus pond next to the old woman’s store, near the western end of the frontier road. I’d taken a few photos of lotus flowers here on several occasions, and I’d noticed that it was a popular site with serious photographers—there always seemed to be several perched on the banks of the pond armed with telephoto lenses whenever I cycled past. However, I thought that it had been filled in.

Yesterday, however, Paula and I decided that, having cycled west as far as the Tam Mei valley, we would return to Fanling via the frontier road. The western half of the road, as far as a police operational base, had been rebuilt, presumably to accommodate police vehicles, and was relatively undamaged. And there was a turn-off to the village of Ma Cho Lung a short distance further on, before reaching the most badly damaged section of the road, which I’ve likened to a rural cart track. We would follow that.

As we passed the site of the lotus pond, I glanced to my left to see whether anything remained of the pond and was astounded to see that it was full of flowers. Naturally, we stopped to take a few photos:

This is a closer look at the last of these photos:

One thing did puzzle me though. I’d posted photos of lotus flowers in a stream that runs alongside San Tin Tsuen Road, which is a few kilometres further west, in May, and I wondered why they were flowering here in November. Of course, when I checked these earlier photos, it was obvious that they were a different species. But both displays are equally impressive.

As a footnote, I’ve included a photo of a pond next to the Ng Tung River, which we’d cycled past at the beginning of our ride. It’s covered in water hyacinths:

This is a closer look at the area of interest:

One thing to note: whenever we’ve seen this display before, it’s been ephemeral, lasting no more than a day or two. We’ll probably cycle past it again tomorrow, and I expect all the flowers to be gone.

another abandoned house

In my last post, I mentioned that I intended to return to the ‘rotten row’ on Sunday, when no workmen would be on-site, to see whether I’d missed anything. I’ve now done so, but most of the houses have been covered in industrial sheeting since my last visit, and access is no longer possible. However, I was still able to enter the house with the gas canister outside the door, where I took three more photos, which I’ve appended to this account of an abandoned house nearby that I also visited today.

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Having photographed everything that I wanted to in this house, I returned to the main path linking Ma Sik Road with the Ng Tung River, which is now my (much longer) way home. A short distance along this path, I reached the start of an overgrown path leading off to the right:

I will have checked out this path many years ago and found that it led just to someone’s house, so decided that it was of no further interest. However, in view of the recent developments in the area, I wondered whether this house might also now be abandoned. It was:

I didn’t take a photo from the doorway, because the interior looked decidedly dingy, but I was gobsmacked by what I discovered in a room leading off to the right about halfway along:

This is the only house I’ve visited with a private shrine! You will notice that the light has been left on in the room to the right of the shrine. I wonder who is paying the electricity bill.

And this is a view inside the room:

I didn’t think it prudent to try to climb up to the upper floor, because there wasn’t a separate handrail, and access was provided by what wasn’t much more than a ladder.

There is also a small kitchen leading off the main room:

Finally, this is a view of the main room from the end opposite the entrance to the house:

You will notice a dog in the doorway. I wonder whether it belonged to the last occupant of the house and has been abandoned like the house, or whether it’s merely a feral dog that has found a convenient place to sleep for the night. It was too nervous to come in once it became aware of my presence.

The path actually continues past the house, and I wondered to where it might lead. To my surprise, I came across a large area that had been planted with banana ‘trees’ neatly laid out in rows:

These photos were taken from the far side of the plot, first looking to the right and then to the left. Judging by the relative absence of weeds, this plot was still being tended until quite recently, although it won’t take long for either the jungle or the developers to reclaim it.

My last photo here is a view of the entrance to the house from the direction of the banana plantation:

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Although I eschewed the climb up the ladder in the newly investigated house, I did decide to brave the steep climb to the upper floor in the only house in the ‘rotten row’ that is still accessible. At least it had a handrail. And this is what I saw upstairs:

From the top of the stairs, I had quite a striking view of the main room:

The people living here clearly left in a hurry!

I hadn’t noticed previously that this house also had a kitchen:

…and a toilet adjoining to the right, which didn’t strike me as a particularly hygienic location for such a facility.

I probably missed an opportunity to look inside other houses in the area that were demolished while I was in the UK this summer (Farewell Ma Shi Po), but there are many more further west that are still occupied—for now.

rotten row revisited

When I examined the photos of squatter houses that I’d taken to use in Rotten Row #2, which I posted three days ago, I realized that I’d missed a few obvious opportunities to take more. When I showed the photos that I’d already taken to Paula, she wanted to see the location for herself, which meant that we approached the path where these houses are located in the opposite direction, so the sequence in which I took additional photos at the site is the reverse of the original order.

When I looked at the interior shot that I took of the last house in the row, I spotted what was almost certainly a banister, so there had to be a staircase:

The staircase didn’t look particularly robust, but I thought I should venture upstairs. There was a door at the top of the stairs, which was closed, but I carefully pushed it open. This is the front of the two rooms I discovered:

…and this is the rear:

I conjecture that the pictures on the wall right of the window are of family members.

This is the view inside the house with the gas canister outside the main door:

…and this is a look inside the room, the entrance to which you can see in the previous photo:

…while this is a view of the first room from the entrance to the inner room:

While I was inside taking photos, Paula remained outside on the path, and a man, a member of a small team presumably from the company tasked with demolishing these houses, asked her what she was doing. I heard her explaining that her husband was inside, to which the man replied that it was dangerous! Of course, the staircases were rickety, but I’ve been used to danger for decades.

I felt that it probably wasn’t a good idea to hang around though, not because of any intrinsic danger but merely because I would have preferred to take more time to ensure I got as many relevant photos as possible.

However, I did venture up the stairs of what was the first house in my original report. This is a view from the top of the stairs:

…and this is a look inside the left-hand room:

Finally, this is a look inside the open door that you can see at the end of what I described in my original report as ‘the first side alley’, which I hadn’t ventured down:

It does seem to me that, given how much perfectly good furniture has been left behind, and all the casual debris, that the inhabitants of these houses were simply told to get out immediately. I plan to take another look this coming Sunday, when nobody will be working on the site, to see whether I’ve missed anything.

rotten row #2

The original ‘rotten row’, located along the path that represented the shortest way into Luen Wo Hui from our village, has probably been demolished, although I can’t confirm this because the path is now blocked. However, there is a more extensive row of squatter houses on a path that leads to nowhere other than the houses and is probably traversed only by the residents (apart from me). The location is indicated by a red circle on this map, which I used to illustrate my previous post:

At least one of the shacks along this path remains occupied, albeit not for much longer, but I’d noticed a few days ago that the others have been abandoned, and I’ve just been back to take a few photos. This is a view of the start of the path from the south:

…while this photo shows the only houses on the left-hand side of the path:

The white signs on the side of the first house read ‘Do not poison and damage the plants around here. Thanks!!!’. Strange, I remember thinking, but I’ve not seen the type of creeper adorning this house anywhere else. The remainder of the left-hand side was devoted to growing vegetables, although that activity has now ceased.

This is a view down the first side alley on the right:

There appears to have once been a gate across the entrance. Perhaps I should have ventured down for a closer look.

This is what the next house along looks like now:

The cryptic red writing on the right records that the occupants have now been rehoused. I wonder why they didn’t take the electronic keyboard.

And this is what the house looks like now inside:

It does appear that the occupants left in a hurry. I can only guess at the function of the small room with the white external walls. And notice the stairs: this house actually has two storeys.

The next house also has two storeys:

…and a chaotic internal layout:

This is a side alley between the previous house and the last two houses in the row:

Notice the Chinese flags.

I’m not sure why I didn’t photograph the outside of the last two houses in the row, but here is a view of the inside of the next house:

It appears to have been well furnished, but it begs the question: why did the occupants not take the furniture when they left? And this is what the interior of the final house in the row looks like now:

Judging by the writing on the wall right of the door—and the windows on each side—this was once the external door, and what you see in front of it was added on by subsequent occupants after the previous ones had been rehoused. And they left their washing machine behind! The Chinese writing reads ‘riches or poverty depends on heaven’ (left) and ‘all you need is peace’ (right). The characters above the door read ‘happiness’.

Finally, this is a view of the path looking back the way I’ve just come:

All these structures will be demolished in the near future.