“Forty years ago, this village was silent.” Imagine Mui Tsz Lam, a Hakka village nestled in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong. This is the Mui Tsz Lam Story House. It stands as a testament to a village reborn.
Mui Tsz Lam was founded around 400 years ago by the Tsang clan. Life here revolved around the land. Villagers cultivated rice and tended fruit trees. Plum and tangerine orchards flourished. The 1960s marked Mui Tsz Lam’s peak. Around one hundred people called it home.
However, life wasn’t easy. Inconvenient transportation and the tough agricultural life led many to seek opportunities overseas. By the 1970s, Mui Tsz Lam was largely abandoned. But this desertion inadvertently preserved its natural environment and historical buildings.
Mui Tsz Lam is part of the Hing Chun Yeuk. This alliance includes Kop Tong, Lai Chi Wo, and other Hakka villages. These villages share a common history and cultural heritage.
Today, Mui Tsz Lam is experiencing a revival. Since 2017, villagers and volunteers have been working to breathe new life into the village. They are restoring terrace fields and ponds. They are also replanting mandarin trees.
The “Nature, Earth and Human – Mui Tsz Lam Art Revitalization Project” launched in 2019. It led to the establishment of this very Mui Tsz Lam Story House. Artists and villagers collaborated to create murals depicting the village’s story and rural character. Students and volunteers painted these murals on the old village houses.
The Mui Tsz Lam Story House promotes Hakka culture and village lifestyle. It showcases Hakka products. It even provides a resting place for hikers. The village demonstrates typical Feng Shui principles. It is backed by a mountain with a Feng Shui forest. A stream runs through the village. This design reflects the Hakka settlers’ wisdom. They found the most habitable location while adapting to the local climate.
Though no one permanently resides in Mui Tsz Lam today, its spirit lives on. The Mui Tsz Lam Story House stands as a symbol of resilience. It demonstrates the enduring power of community. The village also cooperated with various organisations to launch the first HSBC-HKU supported revitalisation project, “Nature, Earth and Human – Mui Tsz Lam Art Revitalization Project”. Art work such as murals were created,presenting the characteristics of Mui Tsz Lam in different ways and successfully attracted public attention to this remote village. This is more than just a building. It is a living narrative etched into the landscape.