Hong Kong and Taiwan Overseas Hakka Series 14: Getang, a secluded Hakka village.

This is a secluded Hakka village, located in the northeast mountain of Shuen Wan, Saigon. There is no road or public transportation, but it can be reached by land and water. It takes an hour and a half to take the ferry from the waterway to Maliushui Wharf in Sha Tin, and then get off at Litchi Nest and cross several valleys. Take a taxi from Tai Po to Wujiaoteng by land, then walk through the lanterns hanging on the mountain road, and walk for two hours to reach Keng Village.

At the most prosperous time, there were only about 100 villagers in Bangtang, and every family raised pigs, chickens, rice and fruit trees. However, since 1970s, due to the hardship of rural life and inconvenient transportation, villagers moved to urban areas or crossed the ocean to make a living in Europe. After the last villager moved out of 1976, he moved to Britain, where water and electricity were cut off for more than 40 years. Like the neighboring Meizilin and Lujing villages, the villagers in Kelatang Village just came back to worship the mountains around Weiming and Chongyang.

Not long ago, accompanied by Fan Hengyou, the village chief, and Zeng Yu 'an, the village chief of Meizilin, the author took the old friends of Hong Kong Sun Tzu International Research Center on the Art of War and Hong Kong Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Economic and Trade Promotion Association for a guided tour of Hakka villages. On the road, you can also see the official street sign "Kelatang", but some villagers said that this place should be called "Tangtang" because this Hakka village with a history of hundreds of years is famous for growing oranges. "The main thing is to grow oranges, which are sold every year at the age of 25 or 26, and every family has an orchard." In addition to oranges, there are papaya, Shatian pomelo, sweet pomegranate, carambola, wampee and other common fruits in Hakka mountainous areas.

More than a decade ago, villager Fan Yunfa made up his mind to return to his village. He and his wife used a wheelbarrow to push 100 kilograms of cement bags up the mountain from Litchi Wo pier by the sea to restore the old village point by point. Therefore, the 67-year-old brother Fage, born and raised in Kengtang, is known as the Hong Kong version of "Yugong".

Getang is a Hakka village, and the villagers are all surnamed Fan, who is said to be the descendant of the famous minister Fan Zhongyan. The author asked Fage where his ancestors came from in mainland China, and Fage said, "I only remember that Grandpa dialect is from Nantou, Baoan County", but the genealogy has disappeared and cannot be verified.

Being located in the deep forest, it is not easy to go to school. Fage, like most children in the same village, only attended the sixth grade of primary school. He usually walks for 40 minutes to the school in Lai Chi Wo. Some students take the "overpass" to and from Sha Tau Kok, or cross the mountains to the schools in Fanling and Sha Tin.

At the age of fifteen, Fage stopped going to school and began to make a living in the city. First, I worked as a worker in an atomic grain factory, then as a dress and baker, and then I went across the ocean to work as a kitchen worker in the Netherlands.

After returning to the village for more than half a century, Fage found that his hometown, once full of laughter and laughter, was in ruins, and the collapsed roof wall was covered with ivy weeds. He and his wife are determined to recreate the old appearance of the village. "First, clean up the blockage, then adjust the water pipes, and then use water." He carried cement up the mountain from the Litchi Wo pier and repaired his ancestral home in situ. "Four wooden cart was pushed up. How much does a bag of red mud weigh? "The difference is not more than one hundred pounds. "My brother and sister-in-law once moved only 16 packs of cement from 6 am to 9 pm. However, it takes at least 100 package of cement to build a house, and it took three years to repair and shape the ancestral home.

Pastoral life seems to be freehand brushwork, but it is normal for stray cows and wild boars to break into the vegetable garden at night and eat all the fruits and vegetables, and meet boa constrictors when chopping wood. Brother Fage said, "So far, the boa constrictor has eaten my four cats."

In recent ten years, abandoned Hakka villages have attracted government, academia and civil society to participate in conservation and rehabilitation projects. There are many native plants that can be used in clam pond and litchi nest. Some organizations add flowers of Luoshen Flower and Turmeric to make snowflakes with unique taste, dry ginger, distill and soak it in oil to make skin care products that can keep moisture, and add locally grown fruits to tea to make a popular drink "Kombucha".

The revitalization team of the University of Hong Kong launched the "Sustainable Rural Areas" project and planted 700 coffee trees in Litchi Nest. Qi Xiaoli, senior project manager of the Center for Civil Society and Governance of the University of Hong Kong, revealed that Hong Kong is often accused of being too hot and too low to grow coffee. But in fact, Hong Kong is located in the coffee production belt, and the quality of products depends on many factors, including planting, harvesting, baking and brewing methods. Litchi nest water source is pollution-free, and the landscape can be directly used. The pests are not serious, and the planting process is relatively easy. In the next stage, it is planned to grow edible fungi by collecting coffee grounds.

Wandering in the mussel pond, you can see murals of scalpers, civets and butterflies. Many artists' works have attracted many tourists to punch in.

Author: Lin