So Lo Pun Village
So Lo Pun Village
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Brad
Hong Kong, China174,411 contributions
Feb 2021
So Lo Pun is one of the ghost villages in the Plover Cove Country Park in the Northeast of the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is an eery place with several rows of abandoned homes when can be accessed by way of country trail between the heritage village of Lai Chi Wo to the south and fellow ghost village Yung Shue Au to the North.
The history of So Lo Pun includes Hakka roots and many generations of the Wong family, the likely original settlers of the village . The are interesting legends about So Lo Pun, including a reported mass disappearance of everyone in the village just before a ceremony during the era of the Japanese occupation (1940s). As well, hikers over the years having reported having their compasses stop working while they wandered the village hence the modern name - So Lo Pun which means locked compass in Cantonese.
So Lo Pun is around 1 hour hike to the north from Lai Chi Wo or approximately 1 hour hike south from Yung Shue Au. The path is well maintained and easy to follow. If hiking on weekends, you will most likely see others hiking as well but in far fewer numbers to what you find in Hong Kong's more easily accessible trails.
Arriving in the village, you will find three rows of abandoned homes that various states of ruinous condition. Most rooftops have caved in or given way to the weight of banyan trees which have grown upon them. However, most of the home entrances have remained standing. They are adorned with bright orange signs with various Chinese characters, evidence that while abandoned there remains a So Lo Pun Village Committee that tends to the village.
You can walk the main walking paths in So Lo Pun and comfortably view the exteriors of the old homes. Notice the similar layout, grey brick constructions and simple interiors of most. However, best to not enter the actual homes for safety reasons.
A few other interesting things to see at So Lo Pun include the modern shrine at the mouth of the village when approaching from Lai Chi Wo. The original shrine was damaged by a fallen banyan tree in 2018. It has since been replaced with the one you see today by the village committee. When exiting the village towards Yung Shue Au, there is a giant fallen tree that once laid across the walking path. It has now been cut through and cleared leaving a passage through a fallen tree. You'll next find is an old water well that is now filled in. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll find a small fenced off area completely overgrown with trees and other vegetation. Look carefully, you can make out playground gym items that rest now in thick forest. This would have been a children's playground area long ago.
In the end, you can easily spend half an hour browsing and taking pictures of So Lo Pun. It is more photogenic than fellow ghost village Yung Shue Au and more eery and taken over by nature compared to the heritage village of Lai Chi Wo. Combined these make for a really neat day hiking through Plover Cove Country Park. It is interesting to see the ghost villages and to think about what sort of lives the villages would have lived here in centuries past.
The history of So Lo Pun includes Hakka roots and many generations of the Wong family, the likely original settlers of the village . The are interesting legends about So Lo Pun, including a reported mass disappearance of everyone in the village just before a ceremony during the era of the Japanese occupation (1940s). As well, hikers over the years having reported having their compasses stop working while they wandered the village hence the modern name - So Lo Pun which means locked compass in Cantonese.
So Lo Pun is around 1 hour hike to the north from Lai Chi Wo or approximately 1 hour hike south from Yung Shue Au. The path is well maintained and easy to follow. If hiking on weekends, you will most likely see others hiking as well but in far fewer numbers to what you find in Hong Kong's more easily accessible trails.
Arriving in the village, you will find three rows of abandoned homes that various states of ruinous condition. Most rooftops have caved in or given way to the weight of banyan trees which have grown upon them. However, most of the home entrances have remained standing. They are adorned with bright orange signs with various Chinese characters, evidence that while abandoned there remains a So Lo Pun Village Committee that tends to the village.
You can walk the main walking paths in So Lo Pun and comfortably view the exteriors of the old homes. Notice the similar layout, grey brick constructions and simple interiors of most. However, best to not enter the actual homes for safety reasons.
A few other interesting things to see at So Lo Pun include the modern shrine at the mouth of the village when approaching from Lai Chi Wo. The original shrine was damaged by a fallen banyan tree in 2018. It has since been replaced with the one you see today by the village committee. When exiting the village towards Yung Shue Au, there is a giant fallen tree that once laid across the walking path. It has now been cut through and cleared leaving a passage through a fallen tree. You'll next find is an old water well that is now filled in. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll find a small fenced off area completely overgrown with trees and other vegetation. Look carefully, you can make out playground gym items that rest now in thick forest. This would have been a children's playground area long ago.
In the end, you can easily spend half an hour browsing and taking pictures of So Lo Pun. It is more photogenic than fellow ghost village Yung Shue Au and more eery and taken over by nature compared to the heritage village of Lai Chi Wo. Combined these make for a really neat day hiking through Plover Cove Country Park. It is interesting to see the ghost villages and to think about what sort of lives the villages would have lived here in centuries past.
Written February 6, 2021
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