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Crowning Hong Kong, the New Territories of Hong Kong is the region located north of the Kowloon territory, which serves as the border with Mainland China. The Sham Chun River or the Shenzhen River, as it is locally called, flows directly north of it forming a natural border with the People's Republic of China. The New Territories area of Hong Kong is chiefly an agrarian region; that is, of course, until not so long ago. Now, however, a lot of area from these idyllic and pastoral hills has metamorphoses into urbanized monsters. The New Territories of Hong Kong is technically the extension of Kowloon, which the British had acquired from the Quing Dynasty in 1860. The New Territories of Hong Kong were portions of the Chinese Empire of the "Quing" or "Manchu" Dynasty that were leased to the British for tenure of 99 years. Transferred to British hands in the year 1898, with the "Second Convention of Peking", the New Territories of Hong Kong was viewed as a new land of opportunity. As a result, a lot of people from the Chinese mainland and other European countries filtered into the region to make a living. This resulted in low living standards and mushrooming of slums due to the drastic surge in population. Later, when in 1894, Hong Kong was hit with the outburst of the "Third Pandemic" or the "Bubonic Plague", the Government of the territory of Hong Kong intervened to house more people. And so the colonies and ghettos in the New Territories of Hong Kong began to undergo expansion. The 1,008 Sq Km New Territories of Hong Kong encompass some 9 districts with its borders. They are the Islands District, the Kwai Tsing District that comprise of the Kwai Chung Island and the Tsing Yi Island, the North District, the Sai Kung District, the Sha Tin District, the Tai Po District, the Tsuen Wan District, the Tuen Mun District and the Yuen Long District. Today despite urbanization, one can still find traces of the ancient pastoral life in the surrounding hills that have escaped concretization. Just in the outskirts of the new territories of Hong Kong, you can still find farms rearing ducks and other poultry, paddy growing on trellises, Hakka women going about their daily chores and many other quaint pastoral sights. It is in these regions of the New Territories of Hong Kong that you will find remnants of the walled enclosures built by the reclusive Hakka clan to ward off bandits during the Ming Dynasty era. The other pleasant sights and experiences in the New Territories of Hong Kong include the two heritage trails: the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail and the Ping Shan Heritage Trail; the Sam Tung UK Museum in Tsuen Wan; the Man Mo temple which is an ancestral hall and is dedicated to two gods - "Man", the literature God and "Mo" the war God; the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas; the Tai Fu Tai which is a impressive and elegant country mansion; and the Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve near the Chinese border. The efficient KCR or Kowloon Canton Railway has convenient connecting trains to all these places.
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