Tai Hang (Chinese: 大坑; lit. 'The Big Water Channel') is an area southeast of Causeway Bay located in the mid-north of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is home to many luxurious private apartments. Residents are predominantly more affluent Hong Kong locals and expatriate professionals.
Geography
Tai Hang in the 1980s
Tai Hang is a valley with an opening to Causeway Bay in north and So Kon Po in west. To its south and east are hills. The former coastline is marked by Tung Lo Wan Road and the main road Tai Hang Road winds in the hills throughout the area.[citation needed]
The area of Tai Hang is divided into upper and lower areas. The upper area includes a public housing estate Lai Tak Tsuen and some highrise residential blocks for affluents, such as Illumination Terrace (光明臺, 5-7 Tai Hang Road) or Ronsdale Garden (龍華花園, 25 Tai Hang Drive). The lower area has many old residential blocks, with a number of restaurants along the streets. It is named after a stream (or drainage) from nearby hills.[citation needed]
Features
Lin Fa Temple in Tai Hang
One interesting recent development in the plain north is that many new and special restaurants were opened, making Tai Hang a hot spot for dining and leisure.[citation needed]
The Lin Fa Temple is located at the end of Lin Fa Kung Street.[1] It was originally built 1863, during the Qin Dynasty, and was reconstructed in 1986 and 1999. The original use of the temple was a worship place for Kwan Yin, the goddess of mercy.[2]
Tai Hang fire dragon dance
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance
For the three nights straddling the Mid-Autumn Festival,[3] the Tai Hang fire dragon dance is held in Tai Hang. The main attraction is a 67-metre-long 'fire dragon' that winds its way with much fanfare and smoke through a collection of streets located in Tai Hang, close to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. Fire dragon dance started in 1880 when Tai Hang was a small Hakka village of farmers and fishermen on the waterfront of Causeway Bay. This custom has been followed every year since 1880, with the exception of the Japanese Occupation, the 1967 disturbances,[4] and the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to local legend, over a century ago, a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, a typhoon and then a plague wreaked havoc on the village. While the villagers were repairing the damage, a python entered the village and ate their livestock. According to some villagers, the python was the son of the Dragon King. A soothsayer decreed the only way to stop the chaos was to stage a fire dance for three days and nights during the upcoming mid-autumn festival. The villagers made a huge dragon of straw and covered it with incense sticks, which they then lit. Accompanied by drummers and erupting firecrackers, they danced for three days and three nights – and the plague disappeared.[citation needed]
Housing
Most housing estates in the area are private with the exception of Lai Tak Tsuen (16 Lai Tak Tsuen Road, Causeway Bay):
Tai Hang is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 12. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and the following government schools: Hennessy Road Government Primary School and Sir Ellis Kadoorie (Sookunpo) Primary School.[5]
