You’re walking down Pok Fu Lam Road, the usual Hong Kong rush of double-decker buses and high-end SUVs blurring past you toward the University of Hong Kong. It’s loud. It’s sterile. Then, you see it. A chaotic, beautiful sprawl of tin roofs, narrow stone alleys, and tangled greenery clinging to the hillside. That’s Pok Fu Lam Village. It isn’t just some collection of old houses. It’s a middle finger to the glass-and-steel narrative of modern Hong Kong. Honestly, it shouldn’t even be there. Every logic of real estate development says this land should have been flattened decades ago to make room for luxury condos with sea views.
But it stayed.
It’s the last of its kind on Hong Kong Island. While other villages were swallowed by urban sprawl or "redeveloped" into oblivion, this place survived. People have been living here for over 200 years. If you look at the Kangxi-era Gazetteer of Xin'an County, you’ll find mentions of it. We’re talking about a settlement that predates the British arrival in 1841. It’s old. Like, really old.
The Fire Dragon and the Dairy Farm Connection
Most people only hear about the village once a year during the Mid-Autumn Festival. That’s when the Fire Dragon Dance happens. Everyone knows the one in Tai Hang because it’s famous and flashy, but the Pok Fu Lam Village version feels... different. Rawer. The villagers spend weeks hand-weaving a dragon out of straw and incense sticks. When they light it up and dance through those tiny, cramped alleys, the smell of sandalwood is thick enough to chew on. They eventually take the dragon down to the waterfall at nearby Waterfall Bay to "return it to the sea." It’s a ritual to ward off plague, and they’ve been doing it for over a century.
There’s also this weirdly deep connection to milk.
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Back in 1886, Sir Patrick Manson—the guy who figured out mosquitoes carry malaria—started the Dairy Farm Company right here. He wanted to provide affordable, disease-free milk to the colonial population. He imported 80 cows from Scotland, which is kind of hilarious if you think about Scottish cows trying to survive a Hong Kong summer. The village grew because the workers needed somewhere to live. Today, you can still see the remains of the old stone hay silos and the Octagonal Farm House nearby. These aren't just ruins; they’re the literal bones of the neighborhood.
A Maze That Defies Logic
Walking into Pok Fu Lam Village for the first time is disorienting. You leave the sidewalk and suddenly you’re in a labyrinth. The paths are barely wide enough for two people to pass. You’ll see a house made of corrugated iron sitting right next to a sturdy brick structure from the 1920s. It’s messy. It’s organic.
There are about 2,000 to 3,000 people living here, depending on who you ask and how you count the "squatter" structures.
The architecture is a total freestyle. You’ve got the Ngau Lung Store, which is basically the village's social hub, and then you’ve got these tiny shrines tucked into corners where the smoke from "joss sticks" never seems to stop rising. It’s a "living heritage" site, a term that gets thrown around a lot by NGOs, but here it actually means something. It means your neighbor’s grandmother remembers when there were still tigers in the hills. Seriously, the last tiger in Hong Kong was spotted not far from here in the early 20th century.
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- The World Monuments Fund actually put the village on its "Watch" list in 2014.
- This was a huge deal because it signaled to the government that the international community was watching.
- The threat isn't just bulldozers; it’s the slow rot of neglect and the fact that residents can't easily get permits to repair their "temporary" homes.
The Struggle for "Legal" Status
Here is the thing that really sucks: the government classifies most of these homes as "squatter huts."
Even though families have lived here for generations, they don't technically own the land. They have "permits" for the structures. This creates a constant state of anxiety. If a fire happens—and fires are a massive risk in villages like this—the government's first instinct is often to clear the site rather than let people rebuild. It’s a legal grey zone that keeps the village in a state of suspended animation. You can’t move forward, but you refuse to go away.
Conservationists like Chu Hoi-dick and various local heritage groups have fought tooth and nail to get the village recognized. They aren't just fighting for old buildings; they’re fighting for a social fabric. In a high-rise, you don't know who lives two doors down. In Pok Fu Lam Village, everybody knows whose cat is pregnant and who’s cooking salt fish for dinner.
Why You Should Care About a "Shanty Town"
Calling it a shanty town is a lazy take. It’s a sophisticated ecosystem.
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The village has its own internal drainage systems, its own shortcuts, and its own hierarchy. It represents a version of Hong Kong that was built by hand, not by developers. When you lose a place like this, you lose the "clues" to how the city actually works. You lose the memory of the Dairy Farm workers, the Hakka families who moved in during the war, and the specific way the wind blows through the valley to keep the houses cool without air conditioning.
If you visit, don't be a jerk with a camera. This is someone’s living room. People are hanging their laundry, washing dishes, and trying to get to work. But if you go with some respect, you’ll see the small details that make it incredible. Look for the "Bung Kan"—the traditional houses with the pitched roofs. Look at how the villagers have integrated the banyan tree roots into the walls. It’s a masterclass in vernacular architecture.
How to Experience Pok Fu Lam Village Without Being a Tourist
- Take the Bus: Any bus heading toward Aberdeen from Central (like the 7, 30X, or 91) will pass right by it. Get off at the "Pok Fu Lam Village" stop. You can't miss it.
- Visit the Bethanie: Just across the street is the Bethanie, a beautiful neo-gothic building that used to be a sanatorium for French missionaries. It’s now part of the Academy for Performing Arts. The contrast between the Bethanie’s pristine white walls and the village’s gritty texture is the whole Hong Kong vibe in a nutshell.
- The Dairy Farm Trail: If you’re feeling active, hike up the hills behind the village. You’ll find the old stone ruins of the dairy paddocks. It’s creepy and cool at the same time.
- Eat Locally: There are a couple of small cha chaan tengs (tea restaurants) near the entrance. Sit down, get a milk tea, and just watch the world go by. It’s the best way to soak in the atmosphere without feeling like you’re in a museum.
The Uncertain Future
Is the village safe? Probably not.
Hong Kong is desperate for land. There are constant whispers about "rezoning" the area for public housing or high-end residential blocks. The villagers are tired. Many younger people are moving out because living in a tin-roofed house with spotty plumbing isn't exactly a dream when you’re 25. But the core group of residents—the ones who organize the Fire Dragon—aren't budging. They see themselves as the custodians of a history that the rest of the city is too busy to remember.
The village is a reminder that a city needs its "rough edges." If you polish everything until it shines, you lose the friction that makes a place feel alive. Pok Fu Lam Village is pure friction. It’s stubborn, it’s complicated, and it’s beautiful because of its flaws.
Actionable Steps for Your Visit
- Check the Lunar Calendar: If you want to see the Fire Dragon, you need to be there on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival (usually September or October). Arrive early, around 6:30 PM, because it gets packed.
- Respect the "Private" Signs: Some alleys are clearly marked as private or lead directly into someone’s kitchen. If it looks like a dead end that opens into a house, turn around.
- Support Local Efforts: Check out the Pokfulam Village Cultural Landscape Conservation Guild. They occasionally run guided tours led by actual residents. This is the only way to get the real stories without being an intrusive outsider.
- Combine with a Hike: Start at the village, explore for an hour, then head up the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road. It’s a paved, easy walk that takes you right into the country park and eventually up to The Peak if you’ve got the legs for it.
- Look for the "Old Cows": Keep an eye out for the small cow sculptures and murals around the village—they’re a nod to the Dairy Farm heritage and make for great, respectful photos.