| Tsuen Wan’s Four Squares |  |
At the junction of Sha Tsui Road and Chung On Street, each of the four corners contain a landlocked square which can be used for leisure, and they are known as Tai Pei Square, Yi Pei Square, Sam Pei Square and Sze Pei Square (literally “Big, Second, Third and Fourth Pei Squares”). Each of the squares is rectangular, forming the Chinese character “tian” or farm-land if the four plots were close to each other. The squares however are retreated into the inner streets; they are empty plots of land surrounded by buildings, as if courtyards of ancient Chinese architecture. The age of the buildings range from 30 to 50 years old, with seven or eight stories, and they are mainly for residential use. Ground floor shops would sell daily necessities and frequented by residents and people from all around.
Each square has eventually formed its own community with special characteristics. Tai Pei Square is where South Asians congregate, with specialty restaurants and grocery stores; Yi Pei Square is where Fujianese natives form a small community, nicknamed “Little Fujian”. Sam Pei Square has ground floor restaurants and one of them has popular Cantonese sautéed dishes; and Sze Pei Square has many noodle shops, a good place for a snack. These Pei communities were formed not too long ago, probably after SARS. Even for local residents, the Pei Squares are unfamiliar places, seemingly mysterious, and there is still a hidden “Puzzle of the Pei Squares”, waiting for people to solve.
