Village being reborn in Wong Tai Sin

A conservation-themed park at Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen in Wong Tai Sin should be finished and open to the public by 2030.

The park fits in an Urban Renewal Authority project launched in 2007, which has adopted a "conservation by design" concept to develop new residential properties while preserving historical buildings.

Authority managing director Wai Chi-sing said yesterday in his blog that six years of archeological work has unearthed tens of thousands of items of stoneware, coins and tiles mainly from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The work also confirmed the existence of a moat.

Wai said the authority finished an assessment report in the middle of this year and submitted it to the Antiquities and Monuments Office.

"Works are expected to commence in the middle of next year with the aim of completing the conservation park and opening it to the public by 2030," Wai said.

The park will have three preserved cultural relics at the core of its design elements, these being a village gatehouse, an embedded stone tablet and the Tin Hau Temple as well as a central axis linking them up in the walled village.

The park will also include an interactive archeological area to deliver knowledge to the community by organizing scientific and educational activities.

A corridor will be set up at the original walls on both sides of the entrance using augmented reality and interactive technology to introduce the historical changes to the village.

Revitalized village houses will be used to display artifacts that have been excavated, and a small square in front of the Tin Hau Temple will serve as a multi-purpose activity area.