Where is Tuen Bing Guomen now: Travel Notes of Eighteen Districts: Tuen Mun Chapter

Originally, I came to Tuen Mun for a trip to the 18th District, and the first stop was just an accident; I did not expect to check the information, and it turned out that Tuen Mun is the earliest place with historical records in Hong Kong. As far as a thousand years ago, the army of the Tang Dynasty had already stationed troops here because Tuen Mun was adjacent to the Pearl River Estuary in the west, so it was called "Tuen Mun". In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese once occupied Tuen Mun as a base, earlier than Macau, and finally gave up because they were repelled by the Ming Dynasty navy. If the Portuguese had won, Hong Kong would have become a colony three hundred years earlier, and history would have been rewritten.

The reason why Tuen Mun has become a battleground for military strategists is not only because it can control the Pearl River Estuary, but also because there is Castle Peak, one of the "Three Points of Hong Kong". The history of Castle Peak is earlier than that of Tuen Mun. According to legend, in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a Zen Master Beidu who waded through the water with a wooden cup and finally settled in Castle Peak to practice cultivation. After that, there were many practitioners on Castle Peak, and it was regarded as a holy mountain. When I visited today, it was raining torrentially, and the mountains were shrouded in mist, which was quite immortal. In the place where Zen Master Beidu practiced, there is now the Qingshan Temple. Qingshan Temple was once known as the "Three Famous Temples" in Hong Kong along with Po Lin Temple and Lingyun Temple, but now there are only the remains of Cup Ferry, but no trace of monks; and there is Qingyun Temple next to the temple, which is also a Taoist temple from the Tao clan, the original residents nearby. 's family temple. The former site of Qingshan Temple was originally hundreds of years old, but it was quietly demolished and rebuilt by the Tao clan in 2004; so now the temple is not what it used to be, and the most historic one may be the archway located at the mountain gate. This archway was built to commemorate Hong Kong Governor Clement Clement's visit to Qingshan. The four characters "Famous Mountains in the Fragrant Sea" on the front were inscribed by Clementi, who was keen on Sinology. The characters are vigorous and amazing.

Near the foot of Qingshan Mountain, there is also the Qingshan Red House. According to legend, when Sun Yat-sen entertained the farm owner here, the remote Red House became a concentration of revolutionaries, and even the famous Huanghuagang Uprising was planned and held here. But to this day, the Red House is still privately owned and dilapidated because it is not listed as a monument. There is a monument to Dr. Sun Yat-sen next to the Red Building, which is also one of the few places in Hong Kong where red flags are erected all year round. Looking at the above-mentioned monuments, Bruce Lee's film "Dragon and Tiger Fight" was filmed in the Qingshan Temple, and the Qingshan Red House is the "land of dragons" in the new China. It is sad that they have been so neglected by the authorities and even allowed to run down.

In the early colonial era, Tuen Mun was always called Castle Peak by the colonial government, hence the names Castle Peak Road and Castle Peak Hospital. It was not until the late 1960s that the British Hong Kong government decided to build a new town here, and Tuen Mun was renamed. Until the West Rail finally opened to traffic in 2003, Tuen Mun has always been connected to the outside world by only two highways, so it is quite isolated from the world. Unlike many places in Hong Kong that rely on the subway to build, many housing estates in Tuen Mun are self-contained. For example, there are mini shopping malls and restaurants under several buildings, forming a small community. Maybe because of the cheap rent, there are no shortage of small shops in these communities, and the shops have their own characteristics; I had lunch in a coffee shop called "Jufulou" today. Although the price is slightly expensive, the exquisite decoration and Food that is carefully prepared is unforgettable.

Although Tuen Mun does not have any popular attractions, if we chew it carefully, we will find that it has a lot of history with Hong Kong, and the communities have their own characteristics. The commodities are cheap and high-quality, suitable for people to explore slowly. Next time, if the weather is better, I will not only be able to climb the Qingshan Mountain and overlook the Lingding Ocean, but also watch the sunset at Xiabaini or the Gold Coast at dusk, which will definitely have another interest.