The small island of Peng Chau became a bustling industrial centre during the 70s and 80s. Then, as if waking from a restless dream, it quickly reverted to its former rural incarnation. Now only abandoned workshops, an empty theatre, rustic temples and an unhurried way of life endure.

The lime ash industry holds an important status in Hong Kong's modern history. The history books don't record exactly when the lime ash kilns became the largest of the four primary industries on Peng Chau, but at the beginning of the 1800s there were more than 11 workshops here, which made Peng Chau's lime ash industry the largest in Hong Kong.

According to the historical record, as early as the 7th to 10th centuries AD, Han people living in the islands of Hong Kong during the Tang Dynasty used the lime produced from burning shells and coral for building materials and as a fertiliser (balance the soil pH and add oxygen to the soil) and as a pesticide, an herbicide, in paper making and as a dye and for many other things.

The decline of the lime ash industry: In the middle of the 19th century imports of cement and lime from China and Japan start to dominate the Hong Kong market due to lower production costs. The competition eventually forces the lime ash kilns in Peng Chau to all close.