# Old Chinese Mansion, Shek Lo, Fanling, HK, August 2015



## HughieD (Sep 3, 2015)

This place is a special one to me. I first clocked this place out of the window of my sister-in-laws's flat that we were staying in in Fanling back in 2003. I remember thinking "Surely this place can't be abandoned" but it was. I walked past it and took a single picture of it (I wasn't a fully-fledged urbexer back then):


Shek Lo by HughieDW, on Flickr

Ahead of my trip this Summer I was determined to go back and have a look round. The history of the place I found last time around is here:

_"Shek Lo Colonial house, near Fanling, was built in 1925 by Mr Tsui Yan-sou, who was also the founder of Wah Yan College. The two-storey building is a blend of Chinese and Western architectural styles. Despite its colonial-style characteristics it has a traditional Chinese pitched roof supported on wooden purlins and battens and covered by Chinese clay tiles. Other notable features include the courtyard and also the layout of the rooms, which is similar to that of traditional Chinese residences. Located in the middle of the parapet of the roof is a semi-circular brick wall engraved with the characters “Shek Lo”. It has now been left to decay which is a shame as it has some real character."_

So I got dropped off by my brother-in-law near-by and walked to the mansion. It soon came into view. The vegetation had advanced but this glorious mansion hadn't lost any of its charm. The one change however was the perimeter fence with barbed wire on the top and broken glass set in concrete between the fence and the drainage gully. That wasn't what "Street-view" was showing me! The two gates were chained and quite high. It was looking like it was going to be a fail but then I spotted a way in so off I went. Here are the pictures.

From the front this place is majestic:


img0702 by HughieDW, on Flickr

I just couldn't get enough of the front elevation:


img0705 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Nature had certainly advanced on the old place:


img0707 by HughieDW, on Flickr

But that sorts of adds to the place's charm:


img0708 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img0715 by HughieDW, on Flickr

At the back there's a little court-yard:


img0714 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img0720 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Inside there isn't an awful lot. Just some old wooden furniture:


img0713 by HughieDW, on Flickr

...and some old bakelite (the world's first synthetic plastic!) light switches, which are probably original:


img0719 by HughieDW, on Flickr

More wooden furniture in the main up-stairs room:


img0717 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The separate wing to the right is even more over-grown:


img0727 by HughieDW, on Flickr

...which has more old wooden furniture:


img0722 by HughieDW, on Flickr

There's vines at the window:


img0723 by HughieDW, on Flickr

...and trees are growing out of the house itself:


img0721 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img0725 by HughieDW, on Flickr

All-in-all though a fantastic place and my most-fave single building on the whole of my trip.

Thanks for looking!


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## krela (Sep 3, 2015)

Good looking place that.


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## smiler (Sep 3, 2015)

Nicely Done Hughie, Thanks


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## Mikeymutt (Sep 3, 2015)

Nice onE hughie..love your stuff..it's so different and unique.


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## Sam Haltin (Sep 3, 2015)

Good shots considering the amount of nature growing. I liked the file cabinet as it looks hand-made and well constructed, I wonder where the rest of it was - that's just the drawers. No incense sticks this time?


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## HughieD (Sep 3, 2015)

Cheers folks...one of my fave explores from my HK adventures. More to come plus a side-trip to Taiwan.


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## tumble112 (Sep 4, 2015)

This is my favourite of your far eastern explores, a great find.


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## jsp77 (Sep 5, 2015)

Great find and excellent report, I'm enjoying you adventures


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## flyboys90 (Sep 5, 2015)

Great find,great write up and great shots.Thanks for sharing.


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## King Al (Sep 5, 2015)

Great find Hughie! Superb report


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## HughieD (Sep 6, 2015)

Bizzare coincidence. Was in a Japanese restaurant on Friday. Used the two words of Japanese I know on the waitress. "No, I'm not Japanese. I'm from Hong Kong". Me: "Which part?" Her: "New Territories". Me: "Fanling?" Her: "Yes!" As it happens she literally lives round the corner from this mansion. Small world!


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## UrbanX (Sep 7, 2015)

Excellent stuff, these just keep getting better! 
Fantastic photos too, thanks for sharing


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## HughieD (Sep 7, 2015)

UrbanX said:


> Excellent stuff, these just keep getting better!
> Fantastic photos too, thanks for sharing



Thank you kind sir!


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