IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, Cha Kwo Ling (茶果嶺), Hong Kong

This summer, the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage (CACHE) has organized a number of guided walks in Cha Kwo Ling, hosted a small exhibition at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, and published Travelling through Cha Kwo Ling – A Memoir of the Urban Village, a free publication that documents the oral history of villagers who have spent decades in Hong Kong’s last quarry community. These personal recollections might seem fragmentary, but once pieced together they form a comprehensive set of living memories for a place pretty much frozen in time for the past few decades. The fact that Cha Kwo Ling has been able to evade bulldozers all these years was quite remarkable, especially when the adjacent Kwun Tong (觀塘), a former industrial district and Hong Kong’s most densely populated area (57,250 persons per sq.km as of 2014), has gone through series of major makeovers since 1990’s. One of the main reasons why villagers prefer not to rebuild or renovate their squatter homes was because they never knew when the government would arrive to lock down their homes. Decades have past, Cha Kwo Ling gradually becomes a special place in Hong Kong where aura of the 60’s and 70’s still rules, allowing contemporary visitors to have a sense of the village’s heyday, when granite and Kaolin clay mining were major industries in East Kowloon.

Oral history of villagers records stories of Cha Kwo Ling from a bygone era, many objects in Cha Kwo Ling, be it a set of rusty metal shutters, a stone stele with fading inscriptions, or an abandoned animal cage, can still be found today, representing tangible evidences for the villagers’ stories. If these objects can speak, what would they say about the urban village and its generations of inhabitants? These silent artefacts would probably be gone in two years’ time, along with the squatter homes, community stores, small tea shops, narrow alleys, etc. Before their disappearance, we did a small walk in Cha Kwo Ling and photo documented the village scenery. Once Cha Kwo Ling is gone, former villagers and anyone who is interested in the city’s urban transformations would sadly mourn the loss of these precious artefacts. Here are objects that caught our eyes during our two recent visits.

A notice board of Cha Kwo Ling Village Fraternity Association (茶果嶺鄉民聯誼會) listed out this year’s donors to the village’s Tin Hau Temple. [2022]

Near the village entrance, a corrugated metal wall is decorated with several columns of license plates. (2022)

Notices and posters for the village are being put up on walls of a few houses along the main alley. [2022]

Fire and water were the biggest enemies for the shanty houses in Cha Kwo Ling. Traces of previous fire and water damages can still be seen today. [2022]

A large mural depicting community celebrations of Tin Hau’s birthday. [2022]

Tropical plants root themselves on the wall of a former clay factory. [2021]

Built with Cha Kwo Ling’s granite blocks in 1951, the tiny St. Mark’s Lutheran Church also offered kindergarten and primary education in the early days. As the village population dwindled, the school has long ceased operation. The historical building would probably be demolished and even forgotten in the near future. [2022]

Many villagers have already moved out of Cha Kwo Ling, leaving behind a government’s notice on the door. [2022]

Home of Kei Lun or Qilin Dance Troupe (茶果嶺麒麟隊), is a traditional organization specialized in qilin dances performed during festivals. Like lion dance to resemble lion, qilin is a legendary creature that is also known as Chinese unicorn. [2022]

Traditional metallic mailboxes are still widely used in the village. [2022]

Established in 1950’s, Ming Tak Primary School was in operations for two decades until mid 1970’s, along with the rise and fall of the children population in the village. Half a century has past, somehow the old school sign is still visible in Cha Kwo Ling. [2022]

Wing Wah Eatery (榮華冰室) has been a prominent fixture in Cha Kwo Ling since 1960’s. It was a well known venue for local filmmakers, artists and photographers. [2022]

In Wing Wah Eatery, everything seems to be frozen in time, including the colour faded posters on the wall. [2022]

At CACHE’s exhibition, a red textile with guest signatures was on display, marking the opening of Wing Wah Eatery back in 1960’s. [2022]

With it name hollow cut into the metal, the shop shutter of Wing Wah Restaurant has been around for decades. Designed to allow natural ventilation back in the 50’s and 60’s, these traditional shutters only exist at the shopfront of decades old shops nowadays. [2022]

Some metal shutters are badly deteriorated in the village. [2022]

At the small open space where villagers used to gather and socialize, the metal shutter of Wai Kee should be part of the collective memories of many Cha Kwo Ling villagers. [2022]

Cha Kwo Ling might look chaotic to some, but for many photographers, the visual complexity makes the village is a delightful destination for exploration. [2022]

In its heyday, Cha Kwo Ling was a thriving urban village with inhabitants of various generations. Today, many villagers and their kids have moved out to other parts of the city. [2022]

A stone stele with faded inscriptions documents donor names for a bridge repair in the village. [2022]

In the old days, a wildlife lover moved to Hong Kong from Guangzhou. He had a number of big cats, bear and elephant and tried to convince the colonial government to establish a zoo in Hong Kong. Used as storage of the old animal cages can still be found in Cha Kwo Ling. [2022]

Five rows of mailboxes near Tin Hau Temple reveal a collective living environment back in the old days. [2022]

Recently renovated, the door panels of Tin Hau Temple have been beautifully preserved. Hope that the temple can be saved after the redevelopment of Cha Kwo Ling. [2022]