San Wai is also known as Kun Lung Wai with the characters “Kun Lung” and “the jiazi year of Qianlong reign (1744)” engraved on the stone lintel of the entrance to the village.
San Wai is a typical local walled village which is enclosed by grey brick walls with loopholes. A watchtower was constructed at each of the four corners of the enclosing walls to defend the village. The exterior of the tower was made of granite while two chained-ring iron gates were installed at the front entrance. The moat that originally surrounded the walled village has been filled in. Houses inside the village are laid out along the central axis with a communal altar situated at the end of the main alley. Unfortunately, most of the old houses have been replaced by new buildings.
The entrance tower and the walls, including the watchtowers, were declared monuments in March 1988 and April 1993 respectively.
To avoid disturbance to the residents, the interior is not open to the public.