Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Is the Oldest Structure in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is best known for its colonial past. Yet, the region was inhabited well before the British ever set eyes on the territory. In fact, traces of human settlement in what is now Hong Kong date back to the Upper Paleolithic period, as far as 39,000 years ago.

However, the oldest man-made structure found in Hong Kong, known as the Lei Cheng Uk Tomb, dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, between 25 and 220 AD. The tomb, located on present-day Tonkin Street in Cheung Sha Wan, within the district of Sham Shui Po, is a four-chamber structure in the form of a symmetrical cross, and was probably built for an officer garrisoned in the region.

Lost for 17 centuries, it was rediscovered in August 1955 when a hill slope was being levelled for the construction of the Lei Cheng Uk Resettlement Estate. After it was excavated, the tomb opened to the public in 1957. Although entry to the tomb itself was halted in the 1980s for critical preservation reasons, the adjacent museum remains open to the public as of 2026. In 1988, the tomb was officially declared a monument by the Government of Hong Kong and has since been permanently protected and preserved.

Until 2008, the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb was the only Han tomb unearthed in Hong Kong. That changed when a rescue excavation at So Kwun Wat in Tuen Mun revealed a second burial place dating back to the Han Dynasty.