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Aspects of Village Life in the New Territories

People in Hong Kong may find it hard to recall the New Territories as it was several decades ago. As times change, it is inevitable that much of the landscape, everyday life and village customs of the New Territories should fade away and live on only in people’s memory.

But, fortunately for us, Professor Hugh D. R. Baker, an anthropologist and leading Chinese language scholar, revives the vitality of the life of Sheung Shui’s villagers by speaking to a collection of photographs he took half a century ago. The exhibition reveals many aspects of Sheung Shui life, including ancestor worship rituals, major festivals and economic activities that had prevailed for generations. Their meaning has become greater as time passes. Though some of the images here record events, customs, scenes and objects that no longer exist, their cultural significance lives on and is often expressed in different ways today.