HONG KONG — Sitting on a wooden bench near his small concrete house, Cheung Cheung drew his hand across the overgrown fields before him and described what they were used for.

“The villagers’ animals used to graze here,” he said. “People kept cows, chickens and pigs.”

Pointing to the waterfront not far beyond, he added, “There was fishing, too.”

That was about 50 years ago. These days, Mr. Cheung’s village, once home to about 160 people, is almost bereft of human and animal life, save for a few stray dogs and a cow that belonged to a neighbor who moved away years ago.

Many of the village’s houses are boarded over, locked up, or are little more than ruins. Inside some are possessions their owners left behind: an old wooden clock, family portraits, cups and saucers laden with dust.