Friday, February 21, 2014

First Fridays: Tai Sang Wai

I want to try to do something new on Fridays, which is why I am going to call this series of blogs "First Fridays."  Though I have been to visit this wonderful village many times, this is the first time that I have taken photos and shared them with others.

Today, I went to visit a friend of mine out in the Tai Sang Wai village in Yuen Long.  This village is known for their fish ponds, which supply fish to local markets, and the wild wetland birds of the area.  Every time that I am out walking the ponds, I see a couple of birdwatchers here and there with their massive lenses.

Banana bunches growing everywhere

A wooden boat in one of the ponds

The clouds came in a few minutes after we walked out over to the ponds 
A beautiful rustic building on stilts surrounded by banana trees

Housing sprawl from the main village area

My friend calls this Banana Lane, which reminds me of how Anne of Green Gables named places on Prince Edward Island

Can you spot the King Fisher?

Drained pond 

House guard dog
I can see why people love to visit this place.  There is always something interesting to find.

During the past few weeks, the villagers had been busy draining last season's ponds and filling up this season's ones.  It has been a huge scale operation, which my friend's family is constantly discussing.  For me, it was just fascinating to learn about huge ponds being drained.  It was also interesting to see last season's fish crop being replaced by new ones.  I am not sure if sharing photos of deceased fish might appeal to anyone reading this blog, but I'll be happy to email you a photo if you are interested.

Anyhow, this village is always such fun to visit because it is so quiet and far away from the sights and sounds of the city center.