Look past the sky-high towers and retail outlets around Tsuen Wan's MTR station and you'll find hints of the area's rich history.
At the foot of the Luk Yeung Sun Chuen estate is a nearly 300-year-old temple dedicated to sea goddess Tin Hau, a reminder that the district was once a stone's throw from the sea. Next door is the village of Sam Tung Uk, which dates back more than two centuries and has been beautifully preserved as a testament to the Hakka people who first settled the area.
Still, it's hard to believe you're in the New Territories when you're walking on overhead walkways among towering residential blocks. These piles of concrete are the product of the late-20th-century push to carve out 'new towns', with Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung some of the first attempts, dating back to the 1950s.
There was little in the way of planning conducted for these first new towns. Only in 1973 did the government form the New Territories Development Department and start plotting suburbs such as Sha Tin.
Many of the earliest public housing estates in Tsuen Wan, such as Tai Wo Hau, built in the 60s, were replaced when the MTR arrived in the early 80s, connecting the former farming and fishing village to the Kowloon sprawl.
The area near Tsuen Wan MTR station provides a glimpse of lower-middle-class and working-class life. In the Tsuen Cheong Centre, there's a series of interlocking small shopping malls, none of which has much in the way of brand-name outlets.