Cheung Ancestral Hall

Located in Lo Wai, Tsuen Wan, this ancestral hall was listed as a Grade III historical building in 2010. In its early days, Lo Wai Village used to have five ancestral halls representing each of the five surnames that formed the village. However, most of them fell to disrepair and collapsed, and the Cheung Ancestral Hall is the only one that remains. The ancestral hall was built about a hundred years ago using the “three-hall” front-to-back architectural style, and it was a magnificent house in its days. It underwent reconstruction in 1920, and now only two halls remain. Ancestral tablets are kept in the main hall at the back, which has “four-fan doors” and floors raised higher than the front hall, used for the reception of visitors. The building has decorated beams and walls, with exquisite carvings and paintings, and their colours still remain vivid to this day despite being crafted 80 years ago.

The Cheung Ancestral Hall also served as an educational facility before and after the war. It used to operate a private tutor classroom before transforming into an early prototype of a village school, running two classes of different-aged students, with one class in the building and the other in the courtyard. It laid the foundation to the future establishment of the Lo Wai Public School. Apart from worshipping the Cheung’s ancestors, the hall was also used to hold meetings and perform traditional ceremonies within the Cheung clan. The small square in front is used even nowadays for celebrating festivities, hosting marriages and serving Poon Choi banquets.