Yuen Long: Where villagers are pitted against outsiders

A banner asking people to defend and preserve the harmony and peace in Yuen Long. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
The town centre was bustling with residents on their grocery runs in the main market. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
A sense of unease still remains in Yuen Long. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Yuen Long is home to a number of longstanding village clans that were around before the British arrived. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Elizabeth Law
China Correspondent
Updated
Jun 19, 2021, 03:58 PM
Published
Jul 27, 2019, 05:00 AM
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HONG KONG • A bustling district close to the Chinese border where the rural exists next to the urban, Yuen Long is popularly known to those outside of Hong Kong for its traditional bakeries which make "wife cakes" and other pastries.

But last Sunday, thousands watched horrified on live streams across Hong Kong as white-clad mobs chased passers-by through a metro station in northern Hong Kong, beating them with sticks and batons.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 27, 2019, with the headline Yuen Long: Where villagers are pitted against outsiders. Subscribe

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