The Lung Mun Country Trail
On this beautiful autumn day I took a walk from Chuen Lung Village to the Shing Mun Reservoir via the Lung Mun Country Trail, ending at the Pineapple Dam. I have previously walked part of the Lung Mun Country Trail when I became lost in the mid ranges of Tai Mo Shan. I wondered what the experience would be like walking the whole trail, so I decided to hike the whole trail this time.
The trail lies on the east-western axis of Tai Mo Shan’s southern slope at its mid-range. I was very glad that I took the Chuen Lung entrance instead of embarking the hike at the Shing Mun Reservoir. To begin the trail at the Shing Mun Reservoir, one would have to climb at least a continuous six to eight hundred steps up.
The Hike
The Chuen Lung Village on Route Twisk in Tsuen Wan is known for a few things. There are two restaurants in the village serving excellent dim sum with local produce as its main attraction. The veggies are grown inside the village, and so be sure to order their watercress. Many hikers would stop here for a meal before heading out on the trails in this area. For a view of its food, visit my entry on the Shing Mun Catchwater here.
From the Choi Lung Restaurant, enter the way into the Chuen Lung Village. Walk all the way until you reach the entrance to the Lung Mun Country Trail. There is a gentle incline from the village up. This section takes about 25 minutes. At this point, you will enter the Lung Mun Country Trail.
There were two highlights on this trail. The first was the three bridges, No. 1, 2 and 3, which leads one over some of the more significant streams on the way. Here are the views. They are very pleasant places for a brief stop.
Once having passed these bridges, you will come across this section. Follow signs for Shing Mun Reservoir.
On this section of the trail, the paths are mostly unpaved. Be careful as some of the way are rather narrow. However, the ground is level mostly. The walk was very easy.
The second highlight on this trail would be the brief view of western New Territories with the famous bridges in the Tsing Yi area. There were probably two spots that allow you to take a reasonable photograph of this view.
In terms of views, you would be done on this trail after this point. Keep on going. There will be just a little bit of climbing in the next section. But it is by no means too rigorous.
At this point, you will begin the last leg of the journey on the trail. Going straight for 1.1km will lead you to the Butterfly Garden of Shing Mun Reservoir. The other sign to Shing Mun Reservoir will lead you to a different point within the reservoir. It will not be close to the Pineapple Dam.
It is perhaps a continuous 15 minutes of walk on downward steps. All steps. Then you would be coming to the Butterfly Garden of Shing Mun Reservoir as your exit from the Lung Mun Country Trail. You will know that you are nearly done when you notice many, many monkeys.
Walk through the Butterfly Garden, there is a way down the Pineapple Dam from the garden.
I spent about 2 hours on the Lung Mun Country Trail itself. Including the first 25 minutes of walk from Chuen Lung to the beginning of the trail, the outing took me about a total of two and a half hours.
How to Get There
I took green top minibus Route 80 from Tsuen Wan. The minibuses wait at Chuen Lung Street. Get off at the final stop when you see the Chuen Lung restaurants.
At the Pineapple Dam, green top minibus Route 82 will take you back to Tsuen Wan proper, with final stop at Shiu Wo Street.
From the Tsuen Wan West Station (Nina Tower Bus Terminus), bus 51 goes to Chuen Lung Village, but perhaps it takes longer. It is a circular route and therefore watch out for the Chuen Lung stop.