“Transport head” estate in Hong Kong

Do you know that Wan Tau Tong Estate (運頭塘邨) is rumored to be one of the burial grounds in the past in Hong Kong?

…Actually lots of places in Hong Kong are rumored to be burial grounds in the past. People who spread the rumor probably just wanted to scare the others, or simply to look for fun, though.

Anyway, Wan Tau Tong Estate is the latest public housing estate in Tai Po, completed in 1991. This place holds so many residents and is so lively that you will think it has nothing to do with ghost stories…but it does. I mean, the name of the estate itself is spooky enough (運頭 literally means “transport head”)…

There were two versions of the story: one has it that in early 1900s, lots of natural disasters happened and killed many people. In order to prevent the spread of disease, the corpses had to be burnt, leaving the bones behind. Undertakers therefore had to transport the bones and skulls to the burial ground in Tai Po (which is supposed to be the Wan Tau Tong Estate today, hence the name) and had them buried.

The other version is that many civilians were killed and had their heads chopped off during Japanese occupation in 1940s. For some reason this yet-to-be estate became an excellent choice for the Japanese soldiers to ditch the heads.

Whatever the reason was, many people died and have to be buried in this place. Then there started to be rumors about how people would see headless figures pushing a wheelbarrow carrying many heads at night. There was also a spookily hilarious story about a construction worker finding out the headless ghosts using white glue to glue their loose heads on their necks…

If you really are interested in this spooky-name estate, you can give it a visit, preferably at night.

But you would definitely be disappointed. You would only find a modern yet peaceful residential area there. No burial grounds, no headless ghosts, no wheelbarrow carrying heads either.

…We already have them glued up, after all.

What? No, I didn’t say anything.

Don’t mind me…

Seven Sisters in Hong Kong

Do you know that there is an area in Hong Kong called Tsat Tsz Mui (七姊妹, “Seven Sisters”)?

Well, you probably don’t, since lots pf places in Hong Kong aren’t that well known after all.

But what’s with this weird name?

Tsat Tsz Mui located in North Point, originally a rural village.

The name comes from a tragic story:  There were seven girls who lived in this village. The girls were childhood friends and while they were not really biologically related, they treated others as siblings. They made a vow that “they shall die on the same day” (a traditional Chinese vow, to show that those who vow are willing to die for each other and are spiritually united) and “they shall never get married”.

But one day, the third sister’s parent forced her to marry a man. The girl wanted to refuse, yet she dared not oppose her parent. So, out of sadness and desperation, the seven sisters decided to commit suicide by jumping into the sea while holding hands together before the day of the wedding. Their bodies were never found, but seven human-shaped rocks mysteriously appeared along the shore on the next day. The story may not be real, but according to some old residents who once lived there, the rocks do exist…

The story’s not over yet. The shore became a popular spot for swimming in the beginning of 20^th century. However, there have been reports about male swimmers drowning nearby since the seven sisters’ tragedy. Some said that the sisters were looking for bodies so that they could reincarnate; some said the sisters were there to punish men who mistreat women…

In 1934, the village and the rocks were buried under reclamation and the story about the seven sisters is slowly forgotten by Hongkongers. The only things left are the Tsat Tsz Mui post office and the Tsat Tsz Mui Road which named after the story.

Bela Vista Villa in Hong Kong

Do you know that the Bela Vista Villa (東堤小築) of Hong Kong is a famous place for…suicide?

Bela Vista Villa, locates in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong Island, is a cluster of vacation bungalows. The villa is close to some historical temples and an awesome beach, a beautiful place with beautiful scene and a beautiful name. Who would have thought it has something to do with such morbid things?

There is (are) reason(s) behind the suicides…or so people believe.

One famous rumor is that in 1989, a divorced woman brought her kid with her to the villa. She killed her kid, and then hung herself in the bungalow while wearing traditional red clothes and shoes (legend said women dying with such clothes would turn into vengeful ghosts). Since then, people have been seeing this “woman in red” wandering in the area and hearing some bone-chilling sobbing from time to time…

Another saying is that a woman broke up with her boyfriend. Feeling upset, she went to the villa and threaten her ex-boyfriend with suicide. But her ex-lover thought that she was only kidding and ignored her. The heart-broken woman thus killed herself by taking sleeping pills and burning charcoal.

The villa has been rumored to be haunted and cursed ever since. What’s worse is that many death-seekers seemed to be affected by the rumors and chose to end their lives at this place. Many people in turn believe the place is heavily shrouded by the “force of yin” and where grudgeful spirits gather.

This creates a vicious cycle of: people commit suicide à the place becomes haunted à more people come to commit suicide in this haunted place à the place becomes more haunted…

Whether you believe in the ghost stories or not, Bela Vista Villa, or even the name Cheung Chau, has more or less become the synonym of “suicide”, and over 20 suicide cases at the resort has been reported.

Maybe people try to imitate what others have been doing unconsciously?

Or maybe…the deceased are lonely and desperately need companions…?

Braided Girl in Hong Kong

Do you know that you shouldn’t talk to a crying girl at night, especially when you are in the Chinese University of Hong Kong?

Right…those horror movie-lovers probably got the idea…

Dare to sit here and listen to one of the most famous ghost stories in Hong Kong, “The Braided Girl” (辮子姑娘)?

During 1960s - 1970s, the mainland China was undergoing the Cultural Revolution. Lots of mainlanders hoped to escape from the political and social instability and thus illegally immigrated to Hong Kong. And our heroine, the braided girl, wanted nothing different. It was said that the young lady was not only pretty, but also had a long and beautiful braid.

So how should our gorgeous heroine make her way to Hong Kong? How else but hiding on a cross-border train? Everything went fine. She hid on the train, sneaked into Hong Kong, readied to jump off the train and start her new life here.

As the train reached the part close to the Chinese University, she took her leap.

But there was one thing.

There was one thing that got in her way.

Her braid.

That long and beautiful braid she loved so much, she cared so much, that she was so proud of, got stuck on some part of the train. Her braid got stuck WHILE she was already in midair!

Her face got ripped off and her body got thrown onto the tracks…

Needless to say, it’s a horrible and painful death.

Years later, a boy walked past the road near where the tragedy happened and saw a girl crying.

The boy, being a gentleman (or maybe just curious) walked to her and asked what happen.

The “girl” turned to face the boy and…I will let you imagine how “she” looked like.

Some said her head had no skin but just bleeding flesh, while some said she had another braid right in her face…*shiver*

And here’s the hearsay. My friend’s teacher once claimed that he had a co-worker meeting that “girl”. And after the encounter, that poor co-worker got sent to asylum. When his (let’s assume he is a male) friends asked him about that night, he went on an emotional outburst, yelling, screaming, hitting others, and pulling his own hair.

No one dared asking what he saw that night again…