San Tin

Introduction

San Tin is near to the boundary of Hong Kong in New Territories. The area of San Tin is about 739.85 ha, bounded by Tit Hang and Pak Shek Au in the east, San Tin Highway in the south, Mai Po San Tsuen in the west and Shenzhen River in the north. The area is situated in the northern part of the North West New Territories (NWNT). It is bisected by San Sham Road joining with San Tin Highway. Half of the Area is occupied by fish ponds of which small portion in the northwest falls within the Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. These fishponds are part of the wetland ecosystem in the Deep Bay Area worthy of conservation.

According to the 1996 By-census, the population of the Area was about 3080 persons. The population concentrated in several recognized villages, which include Tung Chan Wai, Yan Shau Wai, On Lung Tsuen, Fan Tin Tsuen, San Lung Tsuen, Tsing Lung Tsuen, Wing Ping Tsuen, Pun Uk Tsuen, Chau Tau and Lok Ma Chau, clustered in the southwest with access from Castle Peak road. The area to the east of San Sham Road is mainly a hilly area in which the villages are built along the foothill. A strip of fish ponds can be found to the south of Shenzhen River.

Many of the villages in the Area are historic villages. There are some graded items such as Man Ancestral Hall, Ming Tak Tong Ancestral Hall, Ming Yuen Tong Ancestral Hall and Man Shui Yeh Ancestral Hall at Fan Tin Tsuen, Tung Shan Temple at Wing Ping Tsuen and Lok Ma Chau Police Station, which are of historical significance and architectural merits. Besides, Man Lung Fung Ancestral Hall and Tai Fu Tai are declared monuments. These historic villages and buildings are worthy of preservation. Prior consultation with the Antiquities and Monuments of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department is required for any development or redevelopment affecting the historic villages and buildings in the Area and their immediate environs.

	Tai Fu Tai Mansion and Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall Tai Fu Tai Mansion and Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall are famous heritages and tourist attractions in San Tin. Tai Fu Tai Mansion was probably built in the forth year of Tongzhi(1865) of the Qing Dynasty and the Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall is believed to be built by the end of the seventeenth century. Both the heritages are the historic monuments of the Mans. Fan Tin Tsuen is at the heart of the Man settlement in San Tin where the clan had built at least five ancestral halls to honor their forefathers.   Tai Fu Tai Mansion was built by later generation of Man Tin-shui who is the brother of the famous patriot Man Tin-cheung. ‘Tai Fu Tai Mansion’ means a mansion of a person who has great reputation. Looking from the outside, the construction method, structure and shape, decoration of Tai Fu Tai are of Chinese traditional technique. The materials used are also the traditional green-brick, roof-tiles and ceramics. But when you watch closely, you will find that the arrangement and layout do not really follow an axle, left and right are not symmetrical. Some minor decorations are filled with western aroma. The most distinguishing features of Tai Fu Tai are its woodcarvings, the painted glass panes and the ceramic decoration. The leafy plaster moldings above the arched doorways are only some of the main decorative features demonstrating western influence popular in the period. Windows are full of colorful panes, grouped in different shapes, and different sizes, forming a geometrical pattern. All of these are influenced by the western architectural design and arts. These kinds of techniques are common in some houses in the mainland, but it is not the case in the New Territories. There are some minor parts in the mansion that are not common in the New Territories, such as the arched door to the kitchen. The cross shape decoration in the balustrade in the corridor on the second floor, which is very common in the western city, is rare in Chinese architecture. It can be seen that the owner of this mansion is influenced very deeply by the western culture. Also, the design on the second floor shows that it is a rich person house. Under the eaves of the main hall are two honorific boards bestowed on the parents and grandparents of Man Chung-luen by the Qing Emperor, Guangxu, in 1875. Both boards, engraved with Chinese and Manchu characters, are the only known examples of the kind in Hong Kong. From the architectural point of view, it is the evidence of the merge of Chinese and western culture in the early age of Hong Kong.
Tai Fu Tai Mansion Front
Painted Glass Panes
Arched door
Boards engraved with Chinese and Manchu characters

Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall This hall was built in honour of Man Lun-fung, member of the eighth generation of the clan. It comprises three halls with two enclosed courtyards in between. The entrance hall is named ‘To Shu Tong’—meaning literally the hall of “speaking with scholarship”. It remains in use in the traditional manner, as a place for worship of ancestors, holding of festivals and ceremonies, and meeting of village elders. Throughout the years, the mansion and the hall began to show signs of dilapidation. They were gazetted as a historical building and the restoration works were carried out in the late 80s.

San Tin Fishpond

Ramsar Convention

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty, which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 125 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1078 wetland sites, totaling 81.9 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The Convention's mission is the conservation and wise use of wetlands by national action and international cooperation as a means to achieving sustainable development throughout the world.

Fishponds are a man-made habitat managed with the objectives of achieving high productivity fish farming. Although the area of fish ponds operated for commercial production has been decreasing, the demand for fresh and live fish remains high. Freshwater fish production in Hong Kong in 1994 was 5,500 tonnes which represented around 9% of local consumption.

Havesting involes gradual drainage of a pond by pumping water into the surrounding ponds. This increases the density of the fish in the pond and enables their collection. Once the commercial fish have been harvested, the remaining small fish or invertebrates (known as ‘trash’ fish) are available for bird feeding. This aspect of fish pond operations is significant in terms of the ecological functioning of the fish ponds, as many bird species feed on this trash fish supply.

The fishpond habitat serves a specific role as a feeding ground for herons and egrets. Some ardeid species in the fish ponds were composed of largely migratory communities. In the regional context, the rapid loss of suitable habitats especially for breeding sites, has led to a reduction of heron populations in East and Southeast Asia.

The ecological value of a habitat was defined as its contribution in sustaining the wildlife communities and essential ecological processes of a wider ecosystem.

In general, fish ponds have the following ecological roles:

1. Ecological Diversity

Wetlands provide food to wildlife and are habitats suitable as breeding and nursery grounds for a variety of plants, animals and particularly waterfowl.

2. Hydrological Diversity

Wetlands help filter out pollutants in water, regulate water regime and perform flood mitigation functions.

3. Economic Benefits

In Hong Kong, wetlands like fishponds and geiwais produce aquatic products. They are scenic landscape features.

Given that birds utilize the fish ponds, the fish ponds are considered an integral part of the Deep Bay Wetland Ecosystem and not independent of it.

Pond abandonment

Pond abandonment is a land use impact that can affect the ecological value of fishponds. Some of the ponds have only been abandoned due to speculation with a development ‘hope value’ placed on fishpond land. Once fishpond operation stops, active controls over growth of bund and emergent vegetation ceases. Water quality changes as a result of natural decomposition, and the quality of water changes with rainfall and evapo-transpiration. As the management cycle is no longer in place, artificial input of nutrients to the ponds stop. This changes the characteristics of the food web, and as a result, abandoned fish ponds no longer serve the same ecological functions as operating ponds. Bird usage of abandoned ponds showed that they attracted higher numbers of ducks especially during the winter months.

The present approach to conservation:

Principle of “No-Net-Loss in Wetland”

In considering development proposals in the Deep Bay Area, the Town Planning Board adopts the principle of “no-net-loss in wetland” which provides for the conservation of continuous and adjoining fish ponds. The no-net-loss can refer to both loss in “area” and “function”. No decline in wetland or ecological functions served by the existing fish ponds, especially as a source to provide abundant and accessible food and roosting grounds to ardeids and other species, should occur. As the fish ponds form an integral part of the Deep bay Area wetland ecosystem, alternative uses could be considered suitable only if it could be demonstrated that they would not result in the loss of ecological functions of the original ponds and if they complement the ecological functions of the wetlands and fish ponds in and/or around the Deep Bay Area. It is important that the alternative wetland habitat to replace the fish ponds can provide food supplies in a sustainable manner so that birds, particularly, the egret and heron population, are not put at risk.

One good example is that for the drainage system newly built in San Tin, some fishpond areas are reduced. For compensation, Highways Department which corresponds to this construction had built a artificial wetland. Because San Tin Tsuen is located at lowland, villagers are tormented by flood. The Government started the flood-preventing project a few years ago. Though the project affects ecosystem (many fish ponds are filled), the first artificial wetland of Hong Kong is developed, occupying 6,600 meters square. There are 20 kinds, about 35,000 plants, including lotus, Eleocharis dulci and Calla of Gardener.

Wild Animal

There are water snake, loach and Lamarck in the artificial wetland. Besides, the mangrove forest in San Tin provides a living place for hundreds of birds, from nearly twenty kinds, including black-faced spoonbill, which is under the threat of extinction. Other kinds of birds that appear in San Tin frequently are cormorant, grey heron and little egret. Another example is Eurynorthynchus pygmaeus, which have a special mouth. They like to live in mire. Every April and May, there are one to five Eurynorthynchus pygmaeus come to Hong Kong. Since the fish ponds in San Tin are filled, Mai Po becomes the only livable place for Eurynorthynchus pygmaeus. However, the areas of mire are decreasing due to the development of surrounding and the renovating work of Shenzhen River. Worse still, that the mires are contaminated threaten the lives of Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus directly.

Wild Plants

All of the 35,000 plants from twenty kinds in the artificial wetland are chosen by experts. Even though they are in many varieties, there no repelled between them. “Highways Department and Drainage Services Department also cultivate 65,000 wet plants from nine kinds on the dredging poles of the reservoir in San Tin Tsuen. Because the soils of the fish ponds are very adhesive, the water temperature can maintain constant. That makes lotus, which blooms only in June and July, blooms in the whole year. There are three kinds of lotus in the artificial wetland –purple, red and white, which makes it becomes an impressive grand sight.

Crisis

The wastages, pig excrement and greasy dirt released by the container terminals and fields, which are on the other side of river. Highways Department adds more embankments that contain water input and output draining out the sewage when the water is too much after rain. Moreover, the artificial wetland is also facing of damages caused by visitors. Due to the economic values of Sagittaria trifolia, lotus, fish and prawn, the visitors may steal them. Nonetheless, the purpose of developing this land is to let it like the nature, no need to be protected. As a result, Highways Department is in charge of the project till the end of this year. There is still no government department agrees to deal with the duty.