Kat O island is close to Sha Tau Kok, located between villages in Northeast New Territories, and Yantian and Meisha of Shenzhen. As its other name “Crooked Island” suggests, it has a meandering shoreline, making it a good typhoon shelter and staging point for vessels travelling across Mirs Bay.
The current Kat O village is around 300 years old, set up by Hakka and boat people during the Early Qing Dynasty. Standing at the pier facing the island, on your left would be the fishermen village, while your right would be the Hakka village. Similar to other rural villages in Hong Kong, Kat O welcomed its population peak in the 1950-60s, but faced a sharp decline due to an urban migration and emigration.
In 2011, Kat O was included in the “Hong Kong Global Geopark of China Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region”, followed by the openings of its Geoheritage Centre, Kat O Story Room and Kat O Heritage Trail, showcasing village stories of the old times as well as geoheritage for visitors alike. The Kat O Tin Hau Temple, judging by the writings on a bronze bell, is estimated to be built during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, then renovated during the Guangxu era. The Tin Hau temple is currently a Grade 3 historic building.
Kat O holds its “Da Jiu Festival” every 10 years, the next to be held in 2026. The Tin Hau Festival is held every year, being the 23rd of the third lunar month.
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Stone-ground rice flour: the everyday life of farmers
Stick rice flour (粘米粉) and glutinous rice flour (糯米粉) are essential ingredients of traditional Hakka pastries. In bygone days before the establishment of supermarkets, pre-packaged rice flour was not available in rural areas. To make Ban-kwo (Hakka rice cake,茶粿和糕粄), farmers had to crush rice grains into powder by manually grinding the ingredients with a stone […]
Stone Tablets of New Territories Villages
如果對香港鄉村歷史有興趣的話，你會怎麼開始？先以鄉間最常見的文字資料 – 石碑作頭炮：眾籌修建公共設施（道路，橋，船，學校，廟宇）＝〉反映地區社群關係
宗族內籌款修建祠堂 ＝〉反映宗族內部關係
糾紛仲裁的結果 ＝〉反映村民如何處理糾紛及當時的社會環境/法律
標示地界，指明道路方向 等等
Multipurpose temples: A Map of Deities in Sha Tau Kok (Part II)
In addition to worshiping, temples serve three additional purposes: 1. As a regular meeting place for village and village alliance discussions, negotiations and arbitrations, and as a symbol of unity. Some temples were only worshipped by one village originally, yet they evolved to become the core temple of the whole village alliance after the formation […]
A Map of Deities in Sha Tau Kok (Part I)
It is easy to encounter temples of different sizes in Hong Kong. This ranges from large-scale Tin Hau temples that occupy the space of a few shops on ground floors to shrines in shops. If you look closely, you see deities everywhere in the city. Part 1 – Religions Believers are free to worship different […]