Secrets About Tai O Villagers Even Many Hong Kong People Didn’t Know

Tai O is one of the most famous fishing village or fishing town in Hong Kong. Some people call it the "Venice of Hong Kong”. It may not be as romantic as Venice but it has one of the most distinct look in Hong Kong because of the river and stilt houses.

Tai O is a famous fishing village in Hong Kong where many fishermen used to live; their stilt houses were made of old fisherman boats; it is related to seafood production like salted fish and shrimp paste.

One of my friends is from Tai O. He told me about the story of their family which surprised me about how Tai O was like long time ago. My friend’s village has over a century of history. Their village was used to be up in the hill and their ancestors were farmers growing rice before the fishing village appeared! As the city developed their villagers gradually moved down the hill closer to the centre of Tai O (the sea side). Many of their villagers and his grandparents now live in Hang Mei.

In recent year, some farmers started to farm again in Yi O, which is the area next to Tai O trying to revive the lives in the area where their “Fish and Rice” production was famous back in the days.