Kong Ha Wai is a building structure tinged with both the Chinese and Western cultures. Inside the cylinder-shaped stone pillar, the carved stone wall, the wooden porticoes and the doors with carved patterns greet our eyes. In 1945, it housed the Pat Heung Police Post. An old villager remarked: "There were only several cops at that time. However, the villagers lived a simple life and they got along well with one another. In case they needed to travel to town,like Yuen Long, they had to ride a pony. My ancestors did let out ponies to the officers of the police post so that they could go to town to buy their daily necessities. Each month, they did one trip only because a return journey took four hours or so."

From the handcrafted map of the New Territories West, the old Hat Heung Police Post, the Ping Shan Police Post (the previous Yuen Long Police Station) and the places around can be dimly seen. The old Pat Heung Police Post casts our imagination back to the situation in which the officer-in-charge of the post commanded and deployed his men. Having entered the inner hall, one catches sight of the window grilles. The weather-beaten main gate, the rooms each with a cubicle used as toilet, and the doors have been pulled down. In fact, it was the iron gates to the cells, not the doors that were dismantled.

One can see the situation clearly on the ground floor because of the big skylight overhead. Coming up the dark stairs and pushing open the arch-shaped iron gate, we can see a row of rooms. However, their exact purpose is not known. Maybe they served as offices for police officers or recreation rooms. There is a round balcony at the corner on the second floor. Was it once a sentry post, observation post or a guard post? Perhaps, one can only know what it was for by being there personally.

In 1952, the Pat Heung Police Station was officially opened, occupying the "central strategic point" of Yuen Long, Tai Po and Sheung Shui. Later, the old Pat Heung Police Post was converted into a foamed plastics workshop in Kong Ha Wai. The old police post is not only a witness to the changes of times; it also evokes nostalgia.

Entrance to Kong Ha Wai