188
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
way, the exact position of the village being determined according to principles of geomancy. A typical example of geomantic siting is for a village to be built on the lower slopes of a hill, facing rice-fields and sea, with hills extending like two arms on the right and left, and with a grove of trees, which by tradition must not be cut down, immediately behind the village. Often there is a pond, and more trees, across the front of the village.
Many villages (but not so many as in the adjoining part of China) have walls, gates, watch-towers, and even a moat. In front of the first row of houses there is usually an open cement-paved space which may be used for drying vegetables and medicinal plants, as well as being a convenient meeting-place. The spaces between each of the back rows of houses are narrow, with paved access and open drains. Houses are constructed of locally-made blue brick or rough-cut granite blocks, a heavy tiled roof, and, in recent years, cement floors. Such houses stand for hundreds of years. In the poorer villages houses are built of sun-dried mud brick, faced with plaster. These houses deteriorate after a few years, the owner usually rebuilding in similar style. If left un- occupied, they soon disintegrate into heaps of rubble: in which case superstition will often forbid rebuilding on the same site. A well-built stone village house usually consists of a single ground floor room with only one entrance, often separated from the outer court by a covered porch. One side of the room (usually near the door), or one side of the porch, may be used for cooking, while the other side is used for storing grass, the principal fuel. The rear portion of the room may be screened off with wooden parti- tions, for use as a bedroom, and over this portion, raised some eight feet above floor level, there may be a wooden platform or gallery used for storage or for extra sleeping accommodation. There are no ceilings, fire-places or chimneys, and few windows. The altar and shelf for ancestral tablets is at the back of the room, facing the main entrance. In the hilly Hakka areas, on account of the scarcity of level ground, many houses have their sleeping accommodation in an upper storey reached by ladder.
New Territories housing is at the present time being substan- tially influenced by more modern ideas, particularly in imitation of new buildings (such as schoolhouses) designed by urban architects. These, however, mainly affect the choice of materials. The