Chek Keng

{{Short description|Area and village in Hong Kong}} thumb|right|Chek Keng and Chek Keng Hau ({{zh|t=赤徑口|labels=no}} on a foggy spring day. thumb|Holy Family Chapel in Chek Keng. thumb|Village houses in Chek Keng. [[File:Kandelia obovata 1.jpg|thumb|Mangrove at Chek Keng.]] thumb|Bradbury Hall youth hostel. '''Chek Keng''' ({{zh|t=赤徑}}) is an area and village of Sai Kung North in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of Tai Po District. {{TOC limit|2}}

==Location== Chek Keng is located within Sai Kung East Country Park,<ref>Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. [http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/country/cou_vis/cou_vis_cou/cou_vis_cou_ske/cou_vis_cou_ske.html Sai Kung East Country Park] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823105557/http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/country/cou_vis/cou_vis_cou/cou_vis_cou_ske/cou_vis_cou_ske.html |date=2014-08-23 }}</ref> on the northern coast of Sai Kung Peninsula and facing the Chek Keng Hau ({{zh|t=赤徑口|labels=no}}) aka East Arm Bay of Long Harbour.<ref name="saved">{{cite news |last=Ng |first=Kang-chung |date=16 October 2019 |title=How an abandoned village deep in a Hong Kong country park, inaccessible by road and poorly served by ferries, could be saved |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3033096/how-abandoned-village-deep-hong-kong-country-park |work=South China Morning Post |location= |access-date=}}</ref>

==Administration== Chek Keng is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.landsd.gov.hk/doc/en/small-house/rv0909.pdf |title=List of Recognized Villages under the New Territories Small House Policy |last= |first= |date=September 2009 |website= |publisher=Lands Department |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

==History== Chek Keng was probably founded more than 200 years ago. It was historically a multi-surname Hakka village. It was reported in 2003 that Chek Keng had only one resident, an 84 year old woman.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheung |first1=Sindney |authorlink= |last2= |first2= |title=Traditional dwellings, conservation and land use: A study of three villages in Sai Kung |journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch|volume= 43|pages= 10-11 |publisher= |location= | year= 2003|doi= |url=https://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/720e758b956297d719fcb5804e7fae14.pdf |issn= 1991-7295|accessdate= }}</ref>

==Features== ===Chapel=== The Holy Family Chapel ({{zh|t=聖家小堂|labels=no}}) in Chek Keng was built in 1874 to replace an earlier chapel that had been severely damaged by a storm in 1867. The whole village later converted to Catholicism. During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, the chapel was a base of the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Battalion of the East River Guerrilla ({{zh|t=東江縱隊港九獨立大隊|labels=no}}).<ref name="abandoned">{{cite news |last=Heaver |first=Stuart |date=27 February 2016 |title=The abandoned churches of Sai Kung: how Italian missionaries established Hakka congregations in Hong Kong |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1916619/abandoned-churches-sai-kung-how-italian-missionaries |work=South China Morning Post }}</ref><ref>Historic Building Appraisal: [http://www.aab.gov.hk/historicbuilding/en/400_Appraisal_En.pdf Holy Family Chapel, Chek Keng, Tai Po, New Territories]</ref> The chapel is listed as a Grade II historic building.<ref>Antiquities Advisory Board. [http://www.aab.gov.hk/form/AAB-SM-chi.pdf List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings with Assessment Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618060809/http://www.aab.gov.hk/form/AAB-SM-chi.pdf |date=2018-06-18 }}</ref>

===Others=== * Chek Keng Pier * Bradbury Hall youth hostel<ref>Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association: [http://www.yha.org.hk/eng/hostel.php?action_type=detail&hostel_id=9 Bradbury Hall] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907081426/http://www.yha.org.hk/eng/hostel.php?action_type=detail&hostel_id=9 |date=September 7, 2014 }}</ref>

==Transportation== Chek Keng is not accessible by car. It is located along the Stage 2 of the MacLehose Trail, about an hour's walk from Pak Tam Au.<ref name="saved"/>

A kai-to service is available between Wong Shek, Wan Tsai (Nam Fung Wan) and Chek Keng.<ref>Transport Department: [http://www.td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/public_transport/ferries/service_details Kaito Ferry Services]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons}} * [https://www.had.gov.hk/rre/images/village_map1922/P/p-skn-02.pdf Delineation of area of existing village Chek Keng (Sai Kung North) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090729004020/http://www.exploresaikung.com/places/ChekKeng.html Chek Keng - A Piece of Sai Kung History] * [http://webs-of-significance.blogspot.fr/2012/07/hikes-end-at-chek-keng-photo-essay.html Pictures of Chek Keng] * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/austinjosa/3624439073/in/set-72157621858428128/ Picture of the Holy Family Chapel in Chek Keng]

Category:Villages in Tai Po District, Hong Kong Category:Sai Kung North