A Touch of Authenticity

Professor Thomas Chung’s rural romances

# SustainableCity

# LocalCountryside

# CulturalConservation

Photo courtesy of interviewees

Amy Li

Professor Thomas Chung (Photo: Amy Tam)

Fascinated by space and matter since he was a boy, Professor Thomas Chung has a unique sense of life.

Like most architects, the associate professor of the School of Architecture has a great fondness for drawing and model-making. It is this discipline, essentially a spatial way of thinking about the world, that connects him to the world. What endows his life with a sense of rebirth and concrete authenticity, however, is the hermit realms of the local countryside. At the start of his academic journey in 2006, for teaching’s sake, Professor Chung focused on old districts like Sai Ying Pun, Central and Sheung Wan, and Shau Kei Wan. Starting in 2014, to give students a better grasp of principles of architectural design and the relationship between architecture, people and land, he visited Sai Kung, Tai Po and Cheung Chau. In 2019, he ventured into the rural villages in the more remote areas of Hong Kong. By then, the North East New Territories New Development Areas project had started, and the Countryside Conservation Office under the Environment and Ecology Bureau was inviting applications for countryside conservation initiatives. ‘Apart from environment and ecology, the Office’s funding schemes cover rural villages. So there will be architecture, heritage, and culture.’ The local tourism boom since the pandemic and the villagers’ resolve to revive their homes connect Professor Chung with remote villages.

Deserted paradise

Towards the end of 2019, Professor Chung was introduced by a friend to Mui Tsz Lam village representative Tsang Yuk-On, who had been canvassing different parties to revitalise the village. Flanked by terraced fields, fung shui woods and a river, the Hakka village in Sha Tau Kok was still inhabited in the 1960s and 1970s. By the time Professor Chung visited the village, however, the once flourishing settlement had been reduced to ruins and was buried by woods. To bring the 360-year-old village back to life, he went there on foot to clear the debris. When summer came, he brought students participating in the I·CARE programme to Mui Tsz Lam to help with the restoration. After discussion with villagers, Professor Chung and the team decided to apply for grants. In October 2020, Professor Chung began to work with architecture undergraduate and graduate students to restore the Old House and Mural House in Mui Tsz Lam under Project Plum Grove.

Professor Chung (left) and Tsang Yuk-On in front of the restored Old House, phase 1

‘Before setting out to design, our students will familiarize themselves with the village layout, building typology and materials. Here, rammed earth, mud bricks and black roof tiles are being used. They belong to what we call vernacular architecture, employing motifs common in southern China, yet are tempered with local elements,’ Professor Chung speaks of the renovation process.

It takes a half-hour walk from Lai Chi Wo, a nearby Hakka village, to reach Mui Tsz Lam, which is surrounded by hills. To facilitate delivery, light materials such as bamboo, wood and metal scaffolding pipes have been adopted. In-situ materials like fallen bricks, sands and soil are put to good use, and various compositions of rammed earth are tested to determine which is the sturdiest. Throughout the process, Professor Chung and his students felt once again connected to the land. Through working with villagers and volunteers and listening to their ideas, they also rebuilt the trust between people which has been undermined in our estranged modern society. The renovation of Old House and Mural House was finished in September 2022. To mark the village’s rebirth, the team held the Project Plum Grove Festival, hosting guided tours and workshops. Now, they are carrying out second-phase restoration to enhance the Old House, to allow people to have a longer stay.

Discussing restoration details with villagers outside the Mural House

The restoration of Mui Tsz Lam has resonated far and wide. Several non-governmental organizations and universities have started natural and cultural heritage conservation projects there. After it took centre stage as the setting for Far Far Away, a local romantic comedy blockbuster, the village in Hong Kong’s remote northeastern corner attracted widespread public attention.

‘The project has prompted a lot of villagers to come back. Some rebuilt their houses, and others have been working with non-governmental organizations to put in place public facilities, such as tables and chairs on the slope and underneath the tree. And here is the semi-open kitchen, built by villagers, volunteers and our students,’ Professor Chung says.

From valley to plain

At the end of 2021, a Mui Tsz Lam native married to a villager of Kuk Po—a village nestled in a valley facing Starling Inlet— commissioned Professor Chung and his team to renovate her husband’ s family house, the Yeung House, in Ng To, Kuk Po. Now the two-storey house is the University’s multidisciplinary education and research base, where teachers and students of anthropology, architecture, geography and resource management and life sciences come together to study the ecology and human geography of the Kuk Po valley.

The restored Yeung House in Ng To, Kuk Po, which doubles as CUHK’s multidisciplinary education and research base

Training Kuk Po villagers to be docents, able to walk the public through particulars of the valley and their own lived experiences

Revolving around individual houses, the Kuk Po restoration witnesses a stronger bond between the team and the villagers. Returning to Hong Kong from England, Mr Yeung, Yeung House’ s owner and a chef himself, occasionally treated the team traditional Hakka dishes. As smoke curled up in front of the house, the long-vanished delicacies were again seeing the light of day, filling stomachs and warming hearts. The renovation of Yeung House was completed early this year. The team moved on to revitalize the Lee House in Tin Sumi, setting the target of making it more eco-friendly and low carbon.

‘By low carbon, we mean to reinstate the thermal resistance and natural ventilation of the house, which is the strength of traditional architecture. If we have thicker walls and roof, the indoor climate will be optimized, so that it is warm in winter and cool in summer. During the house’s lifetime many of its windows have been blocked, and holes in the wall have been filled. But we can reopen them to bring fresh breezes in—in the past, people did not need air-conditioning,’ the professor says.

Besides tapping into traditional wisdom, the team is introducing new elements, such as solar energy, rainwater harvesting and a composting toilet. In order to recultivate the area, the life sciences team from CUHK will test the soils and crops and propose native species that produce higher and better yields.

These concerted efforts to revitalize Kuk Po have reinvigorated the neighbourhood. Three families are returning and villagers have consulted the team on restoration of their houses and orchards, or the feasibility of running private kitchens. Such apparently trivial acts expand one’ s imagination of life and countryside and create infinite possibilities.

In March 2023, the team hosted a learning week for high schoolers from ECLHK Lutheran Academy. The students carried out a field study in Ng To, Kuk Po, to learn more about its history, geography, ecology and cultural heritage. The picture shows students from ECLHK Lutheran Academy excavating and clearing the site of a village house. An old television set and a steel pig cage have been retrieved

Authenticity that cannot be replicated

To Professor Chung, the value of rural villages and lifestyle lies in their authenticity, which brings fulfilment to body and soul: ‘You have to go out into the world and interact with it, not just indulge in your own little world. The natural world has an undeniable physicality that is lacking in the virtual world or in fast-paced modern cities. You come across resistance in the wilderness and not everything is under your control. You have to be accommodating, and be patient.’ In 2015, the United Nations laid out 17 Sustainability Development Goals, one of which—SDG 11—concerns making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Attempts to make available green public spaces, connect urban and rural areas and protect the world’s cultural and natural heritage speak of the way we cherish the environment and our planet. They also demonstrate our resolve to make the most of the many opportunities that life offers us. A participatory logic—involving not just authorities, but everyone holding a stake—runs through the creation process. In recent years, Europe, mainland China, Japan and Taiwan have emphasized rural-urban interaction and experienced some kind of village renaissance. In Hong Kong, visiting the countryside is no longer an activity confined to a tiny group of people. At CUHK, Professor Chung, who is devoted to revitalizing villages has formed an interest group with a dozen teachers and researchers from architecture, anthropology, and other disciplines. Besides canvassing project ideas, they also organize dates in the countryside. The group, soon to be formalized as the Centre for Urban-Rural Alliance, will allow members to jointly undertake projects dear to their hearts.

‘Architecture entails understanding, feeling, and rendering. Be it the past or the land itself, there are constraints and conditions we have to take into account. Still, you can try out new things, even connecting your innovations to climate change, sustainability and other grand questions of the day. And these are authentic attempts.’

By venturing into Hong Kong’ s remote villages, Professor Chung and fellow countryside lovers have found a sense of tranquility and peace.

Note: The two design research projects “Project Plum Grove” in Mui Tsz Lam and “From Valley to Plain” in Kuk Po were funded by the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme (CCFS) under the Countryside Conservation Office (CCO).

Amy Li is an editor in the Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Amy Li is an editor in the Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.