About 85 per cent of the 2,800-hectare closed frontier area will be opened in three stages between 2010 and 2012. Officials announced two years ago that 2,000 hectares of land south of the existing boundary patrol road would be released. And last month another 400 hectares, including the Lok Ma Chau Loop, adjacent Hoo Hok Wai, and two tracts northwest of Lin Ma Hang Village and north of Pak Fu Shan were added to the list.

A government study on the future development of the restricted zone won't be completed until next year. However, speculation is rife in the border villages about what the lifting of restrictions will bring and many hope to cash in on increased property development.

But shop owners in Sha Tau Kok, which is bisected by the Shenzhen border, are unlikely to enjoy the benefits because the boundary will be pushed northwards to the entrance of the town. This means shops will continue to suffer a dearth of business, says John Tsang Yuk-on, chairman of the Sha Tau Kok chamber of commerce.

Tourism potential would also be lost because Sha Tau Kok town, where the pier is located, is critical for developing eco-tourism in the northeast New Territories, he says. If the town were opened, visitors would be able to take a boat from the recently renovated pier to visit Lai Chi Wo, a secluded seaside village leading to impressive mangrove forests and a maze of white-flowered derris vines.

At Tam Shui Hang, Wan, like many indigenous villagers in the restricted border area, hopes to earn a tidy sum by selling his land to a property developer. 'Some developers have already approached us,' says the 77-year-old village leader. 'But we're not in a rush to sell because we think the price will rise when the area is opened.'

Restrictions weren't so strict when the border fence was first set up so mainland traders could still come to the Hong Kong side, Wan recalls. 'Back then it was still a bustling village,' he says.

Security was tightened considerably after the 1967 riots, and many young men left to try their luck abroad, turning Tam Shui Hang into a slumbering community. Wan, too, left to work briefly for a tailor in Central before returning to open a snack shop, catering mainly to youngsters. There used to be 500 primary school pupils in the village, he says. But business declined as the numbers of students living in the remote area shrank and he closed the shop last year.

His son Wan Wai-yin, 59, who took a break from his takeaway shop in Britain to visit Tam Shui Hang over the Lunar New Year, is looking forward to a rosier future with the lifted restrictions. 'We can't afford to build houses without investment from developers,' says the younger Wan. 'But we don't plan to sell all our land and leave the village because it's our birthplace. The best thing would be for a developer to build six low-rise blocks on our land and give us two blocks in return so that we could rent them out for long-term income.'

Such a deal would secure his eventual retirement in his home village. 'Many of my brothers [from the clan] who moved abroad are planning to come back. It's a good place for retirement because the air is clean,' says Wan Wai-yin.

Developers have long had their eye on the border areas, says North District councillor Wan Wo-fai. Growing demand from an affluent mainland middle class has meant that land in Sha Tau Kok is now cheaper than in Shenzhen.

'Many mainlanders are keen to build luxury villas here because the land costs only two-thirds of that in Shenzhen,' says Wan Wo-fai. Some shrewd villagers are demanding six times the estimated price of two years ago to sell their land, he adds.

Land prices are also expected to rise around Lok Ma Chau Loop since Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced last year that the 96-hectare no-man's-land created by the realignment of the Shenzhen River would be jointly developed by the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments.

Lok Ma Chau Village representative Raymond Cheung Kwai-fong expects closer links with Shenzhen will help transform the settlement into a commercial and low-density residential development, boosting land values and creating jobs.

'Shenzhen is developed and prosperous now, but we've lagged behind,' says Cheung. 'Many villagers plan to sell disused land to developers. The fields and fish ponds are all abandoned now. There are only mosquitoes and wild birds. It's like a dead village.'

Cheung, whose ancestors settled in the village 500 years ago, says most young people have left to seek a better life abroad. He, too, worked in a Chinese restaurant in London before returning to his village when he retired 10 years ago.

However, other villagers hope to revitalise their communities by promoting the pristine countryside.

Ip Chau-ping, the representative of Lin Ma Hang Village, is ambivalent about the opening of the border security zone. 'It's good to revitalise the village,' says Ip, a retired policeman. 'But some villagers, especially the elderly, are worried the opening will affect the tranquillity and natural charm of our village.'

Many of his fellow villagers are against over-development. 'We don't want our village to look like Shenzhen, which is full of high-rise buildings, because it would destroy the serenity,' he says.

Ip is proud of his village's Hakka heritage and points out such features as the fung shui pond at the centre of Lin Ma Hang Village next to the Ip ancestral hall in Sha Tau Kok. More than 30 houses in the village are at least 100 years old, and many ancestral halls are repositories of fine paintings and calligraphy.

It also encompasses other cultural sites such as the 60-year-old Macintosh fort beside the Shenzhen River, and the century-old residence of Ip Ting-zi, both listed as Grade Two historic sites.

Cheung Tin-sung, the representative of San Uk Ling Village in Ta Kwu Ling, says the first thing the government should do is improve access ahead of the influx of visitors. 'Roads are limited and substandard now,' he says. 'The government doesn't see the need to improve them because the area is out of bounds for non-residents.'

Ip echoes the sentiment. He hopes improved transport links and facilities will attract villagers who have moved abroad to return home. 'They could set up small businesses here rather than move away, leaving the old people behind.'