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irregular schedules between Tung Chung and Kap Shui Mun, Castle Peak, and West Point. Geographical inaccessibility and backward transportation made the Tung Chung valley an isolated place, and the community there remained secluded and localized. As observed, the slumbering rural character of the area remained almost untouched for 150 years after it was leased to Britain in 1898. Little development was undertaken until the 1960s when reclamation and resettlement were planned. Remoteness from developed districts allowed the place to retain most of the traditional ways of living.
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Suffering from geographical isolation and poor transportation, Tung Chung's villagers subsisted on agriculture. Native produce included rice, sweet potatoes, taro, peanuts, and red onions. In the old days, rent-in-kind absorbed part of their yield. Red onions and a small portion of rice were transported by boat to the West Point market in Hong Kong for sale. To meet their daily needs, farmers also engaged in subsidiary work such as the raising of chickens and the collection of firewood. The wood was sometimes carried to the Tai O market for sale. Throughout the century, Tung Chung failed to develop into a market town on account of its inaccessibility. To supplement the meagre income from subsistence agriculture, many males sought employment outside the area, and became seamen in their late teens. People of the older generation have pointed out that in their community, men normally went sailing while women stayed home tending the farm and cutting firewood.
The influence of Hakka culture may account for the tradition of women acting as capable farmers. It is speculated that many Hakka people settled in Tung Chung after 1689, when the Ch'ing court repealed the decree of "Coastal Evacuation", which had ordered settlers in the coastal area of southeast China to move inland in order to prevent them from trading with Taiwan and aiding the anti-Manchu forces there. In the early years of the dynasty. According to Stewart Lockhart's survey (1898), all Tung Chung's villages, except for Ling Pei, were Hakka communities. Even in the 1950s, the Hong Kong Gazetteer still maintained that 97% of Tung Chung's population were Hakkas. Today some elderly folks can still remember a number of Hakka folksongs which, according to their custom, used to be sung in the field during or after work. Hakka women have been known for their hard work and thrift in managing both the family land and