Lam Tei

View of Lam Tei, with Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery on the left. The Sherwood and Botania Villa can be seen in the background.

Lam Tei Main Street

To the Old To Clan Ancestral Hall (left) and Sam Shing Temple (right) in Tuen Tsz Wai, a walled village in Lam Tei. The New To Clan Ancestral Hall is to the right, behind the two buildings.

Lam Tei (Chinese: 藍地; pinyin: lándì; lit. 'blue ground') is an area in the Tuen Mun District of the New Territories, Hong Kong. The region lies at the north end of Tuen Mun city. It is highly rural, with Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery being a landmark of the region.

History[]

Several villages of the Lam Tei area were established by the To (陶) Clan. Originally from Poyang, Jiangxi^[1] (other sources mention Watlam in Guangxi),^[2] the To Clan moved to Ngau Tam Mei and then to Tuen Mun Tai Tsuen. Following the increase of the clan population, the village dispersed and developed into five villages in the Lam Tei area: Nai Wai, Tsing Chuen Wai, Tuen Tsz Wai, Lam Tei Tsuen and Tuen Mun San Tsuen, which were all fortified.^[2]

The Old Ancestral Hall (shown below) was briefly used by the Japanese Army during the second world war. The commander later moved the base elsewhere, after discovering the origins of the Clan tracing back to To Yuan Ming.

The Old Ancestral Hall later caught fire after the war, when the interior was rented out as a storage space for cargo. The To Clan later invested in a New Ancestral Hall, including a full sized statue of their ancestor, To Yuan Ming.