When CA researched information for the Kowloon and New Territories Eco-tours in 2010, we discovered that there was a vast vacuum of knowledge of local history. Even for a renowned historical building like Kat Hing Wai, it was very difficult to locate the original text of the plaque commemorating the return of the gate outside the wall, the task for other lesser-known heritages could be daunting. Organizing an in-depth tour seems like a mission impossible.
It is not just information about heritage that is missing. Quite often, we do not even know how and when a green field was turned into an open storage; or how a clear stream was transformed into a concrete channel. Another Chinese name of CA is “Hong Kong Conserving Natural Landscape Association”, and as such it is our duty to record the disappearance of our landscape, which is also the main objective of the occasional paper named Hong Kong Conservation History Note (first published in early 2012). We hope that the citizens of Hong Kong could know more about our past, thus helping conserve our nature and cultural heritage for a better future.
(The notes are in Chinese only.)
