The Forbidden Zone

Exploring the once-closed area between Hong Kong and the mainland

The forbidden zone
Exploring the once-closed area between Hong Kong and the mainland

“Get out!” barked the security guard, “out, out,” seconded his colleagues running towards me. They stopped a good three metres away but continued shouting. Two of them were jet black, though one had a missing leg; the supervisor was black and brown and looked like he had a bit of German shepherd somewhere in his ancestry.

At first, they seemed a little disappointed that I didn’t show an appropriate amount of fear. Instead, I extended the hand of friendship. It contained what looked suspiciously like a rather tasty doggie treat. The commander in chief came cautiously forward for a sniff and then promptly threw caution to the wind. I tossed some treats to his colleagues, and in less than 90 seconds, we were the best of friends.

For years, their village had been off limits to non-residents. In the early 1950s, Hong Kong’s colonial government established a closed area, a stretch of land along the border with the rest of China, in an effort to prevent smuggling and illegal immigrants. Checkpoints were set up, and access was granted only to those with a resident’s permit. In recent years, most of those restrictions have been eased, and only a few areas now remain closed.

Exploring the newly accessible locations does take a little effort because some of them are rather remote, but for the dedicated heritage hunter, there are treasures great and small to be discovered.

Heung Yuen Wai

This is where I met my canine escorts. I’m tempted to say that the village is best known for the border crossing of the same name. The truth is, I suspect, is that many of the people heading for the border don’t even realise there’s a village.

Heung Yuen Wai Fort

You can get there on the 59K green minibus (GMB) from outside Sheung Shui MTR station. If you can, sit on the left and keep an eye open for the Ta Kwu Ling police station. The current building dates back to 1937, but the station was first set up in 1905 to tackle cross-border bandits. The building’s most distinctive features are the whitewashed walls with blue trim and the circular watchtower, which was a trademark of all police stations in Hong Kong.

The village is on a turn-off from the Lin Ma Hang Road, just after the border crossing area. It was first settled by the Man clan, who expanded south from Liantang, in present-day Shenzhen, around 300 years ago. The Mans were mostly farmers, but some of their members had left to work in catering businesses in the Caribbean and Central America. The money they sent back home paid for the construction of houses in the village.

The most notable of these is the Heung Yuen Wai Fort. This consists of five houses joined in two rows with a watchtower at the corner of number four. They were built in 1928 by S.C. Man, whose father ran a grocery business in Panama, and K.F. Man. The buildings have been very well looked after, with timber rafters and purlins still in place. Granite frames the doorways and lintels, and friezes with flowers and birds decorate the eaves.

Leading the way to house number 5 (left), the interior (middle), detail of the mural under the eave

Number 5 had been particularly well looked after. I met the owner, Fred Man, by chance, and he very kindly invited me in for a rare glimpse of a traditional old residence. It was the house where he had spent his childhood, and he had kept it much as he knew it as a child, growing up in the 1960s.

Another interesting building, though not so well preserved, is the block of three houses at the back of the village. Numbers 76-78 were built by F.C. Man in the 1930s. Although doors were open, and at least one of the houses was still clearly inhabited, there were no humans around when I went to visit. My canine companions had joined me to reassure the resident pooch that I meant no harm, but trespassing is not my thing, so I shared out the last of the treats and left.

Lin Ma Hang

The 59K GMB also goes to Lin Ma Hang, but there is a slightly different service that bypasses Heung Yuen Wai. Non-residents can’t ride all the way as the road passes in between the two rows of ten-metre-high razor wire-topped border fences. The village itself is not in any currently restricted zone, but if you don’t have a resident’s permit, you have to get off and walk around for the last bit. It’s a short walk, about 20 minutes or so, and the police officer at the checkpoint will happily send you off in the right direction.

The reward for the effort is a pretty little village with a half-moon-shaped artificial lake, which sits in front of several traditional buildings. Many of the residents of Lin Ma Hang are members of the Ip clan, and the village’s most famous son is Ip Ting-sz, whose mansion sits just a little to the south of the village proper.

House and Statue of Ip Ting-sz atLin Ma Hang

Ip had been born in 1879 but left the village at a young age to work as an apprentice tailor in Thailand. He made his fortune by setting up a factory making military uniforms. He was appointed president of the Siam Branch of Tong Meng Hui or Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, a political organization founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1905. The goal of the alliance was to overthrow the Qing dynasty, and Ip proved skilful at fundraising and drumming up support for the movement amongst Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia. He returned to Lin Ma Hang in 1936 and died in 1943.

The house can be reached across a small bridge made of three granite slabs. It was built around 1908 and is based on Sun Yat-sen’s residence in Zhongshan. It features three bays with a traditional pitched roof and a balcony with western-style balustrades over a covered porch. A statue commemorating Ip stands in front of the house, but there are no furnishings, photographs, or other vestiges of Ip’s life. The Building was declared a monument in 2009,

The last frontier

The only obstacle to visiting Sha Tau Kok is the need for a police permit. It takes five minutes to complete an online form, and the permit will be issued in 24-48 hours.

The pace of life is noticeably slower in Sha Tau Kok. The little town straddles the border between the Special Administrative Region and the rest of China. Its most famous street, Chung Ying Street, is divided down the middle with Hong Kong on one side and Mainland China on the other. But, much to the chagrin of social media addicts, that particular street is still off limits to anyone who doesn’t live there.

Detail of the intricately caved altar at Hip Tin Temple

But Sha Tau Kok is not without other charms. The Hip Tin Temple on Lin Ma Hang Road features two halls with three bays and a pair of octagonal windows representing the Bagua, or the eight forces that shape reality. It’s not known when the original temple was founded, but the existing structure was rebuilt around 1894. Its most recent renovations were completed in January 2026, so while the paintwork might still seem a little fresh, the intricate detail of the carved wooden altarpiece is still breathtaking.

The Chung Ying Street Garden, close to the checkpoint, features a display remembering the old Fanling to Sha Tau Kok railway which closed in 1928. A life-sized replica of one of the two locomotives that used to ply the route is on display. A real one can be found at the Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po (the other is at the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Aberystwyth, Wales).

Replica of a locomotive that used to operate the Sha Tau Kok Railway (top). San Lan Street and the Ha Chan Lei shop (below)

San Lau Street is a row of old shophouses largely untouched by progress. The border also passes along this road, but here one is separated from the other side by a chin-high wall and a muddy ditch. It is also along here where you will meet the delightful Barbie at her shop, Ha Chan Lei. The shop sells Hakka souvenirs and tasty, sweet treats. It also sells frozen mangos on a stick, which I heartily recommend. The shop’s proceeds are donated to charity.

At the end of the road, where the ditch trickles into Starling Inlet, there is granite block inscribed with a couplet composed by an unnamed Qing dynasty official who was inspired by the view, “The sun rises from the beach, The moon hangs above the cape” (main picture). It marks the very end of Hong Kong’s territory. Stretching out across the water is a chain of hefty-looking blue barrels on one side, Hong Kong, on the other, mainland China.

• There are two versions of the 59K GMB; they both depart from the same bay outside Sheung Shui MTR station.
• The 78K regular bus to Sha Tau Kok can be caught outside Fanling MTR station, or the 55K GMB from Sheung Shui
• Application form for closed area permit