Tin Hau Temple and the adjoining buildings in Yau Ma Tei are significant in the history of Kowloon as a multi-functional place for worship, arbitration and study. The temple established by the boat people and land dwellers serves as an important religious focus and marker of collective cultural identity for the local community. It is the largest surviving Tin Hau Temple compound in Kowloon, and also bears witness to the development of the physical and cultural landscape of Yau Ma Tei.
The Tin Hau Temple, which was the first building constructed within the site, replaced an earlier Tin Hau Temple probably built in 1865 by the local community. The temple was relocated to its present site in 1876 and was completed in 1878. The other four buildings adjoining the temple, i.e. Kung Sor, Fook Tak Tsz and the two Shu Yuen, were constructed subsequently in phases between 1894 and 1920.
Among the five buildings, Tin Hau Temple is the largest and most elaborately decorated one. Fronted by an entrance porch with drum platforms to either side, the temple is a Qing vernacular two-hall-three-bay building with an open courtyard between the two halls. The drum platforms have granite columns with exquisitely carved bases. Exquisite historic Shiwan ceramic figurines can be found on the main ridge of the entrance hall.
Tin Hau Temple and the adjoining buildings were declared a monument in 2020.