Vignettes of the World
As of June 2023, the giant twines of Mau Ping have been destroyed (not completely) by a vicious person, who chopped down parts of the old trees. The twines suffered significant damage. Some experts have assessed that the damage is too great for the twines …
Be prepared for a full four hours of walk if you want to hike the Tung O Ancient Trail. The trail takes one from Tung Chung to Tai O on foot. We went on one of the coldest days this winter. Besides the long walk, …
Today I went for a very quick walk at Shing Mun Reservoir. As usual, I began at the Pineapple Dam and spent fifteen minutes on the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail. Once at the end, you will see this sign. At that point, make a left on the paved road, and head on upon a gentle incline.
Photos
Left: at the end of the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail, you will see this sign. Make a left onto the paved road.
Right: A gentle incline once you head left from the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail.
Very soon you will come upon a crossroad, as shown below. Head on the trail to the left.
A few minutes later, you will come by the Butterfly Garden. I highly doubt that this is butterfly season, due to the cold weather. Therefore I did not visit the Butterfly Garden.
Very soon after, I passed by the Shing Mun Reservoir entrance of the Lung Mun Country Trail. The Lung Mun Country Trail is a three-hour walk from the Shing Mun Reservoir to Chuen Long. Bloggers say that the views on this trail are moderately interesting. I have walked 1/3 of it when I was lost in Tai Mo Shan last time.
But we are not going onto the Lung Mun Country Trail. Instead, we head on a little bit farther to reach another Butterfly Garden. This is where the large pasture allows for a very nice rest. Although it would have been perfect for picnic, be mindful of the high population of active monkeys there. My advice is not to spread food when they are around.
At this point here, head down for the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail. The stairs are very easy and they will take you back down to the Pineapple Dam.
The walk really was too short for me. However, the sun was setting so I thought it was a good and pleasant stroll before the sunset. To make it worthwhile, I stopped at the shore of the Shing Mun Reservoir along the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail and savored some pretty nice views.
Photos: a panoramic view at the shore of the Shing Mun Reservoir. Accessible from the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail.
My guidebook said this would be a 1.5-hour walk, but I took only 35 minutes from start to finish. I think this is suitable for a family with very young children. There aren’t so many views to speak of, but the shore of Shing Mun Reservoir on Pineapple Dam is a nice viewing point.
I was born the same year as the Gala Café of Tsuen Wan. I have not heard of it until last year, but thankfully it was not too late. For forty years, Gala Café was the local favorite in Tsuen Wan. It was especially famous …
The plan for the day is to hike the Wilson Trail Section 1 via Violet Hill to end at Repulse Bay. We began at the Stanley Section of Wilson Trail Section 1 at Parkview. The entrance is across the street from the public parking lot …
While I intend my hiking entries to be informational, I caution readers on this one. It is not meant to be a guide, but rather an account of being lost in midst of the many diverging mountainous paths in Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong.
The original plan for the day was to climb Tai Mo Shan via the MacLehose Trail Section 8. I chose one of the coldest days in this winter to do this, because I wanted to experience Tai Mo Shan in its winter.
As usual, I took the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail and spent an hour reaching the Lead Mine Pass. It was all good until I headed up toward Maclehose Trail Section 8. There is a clear entry into MacLehose Trail Section 8 at Lead Mine Pass.
Yet after ten minutes up on some intense stairs, I made the wrong turn. I saw this sign and followed the way to Chuen Lung. Apparently, at the top of this set of stairs, one has to make a right to arrive at MacLehose Trail Section 8. Without a clear sign, I followed the path purportedly going to Chuen Lung on the left.
Photos: Above two pictures shows the way up to enter Maclehose Trail Section 8. Below the sign points to the way to Chuen Lun toward the left (west). But the right way to Maclehose Trail Section 8 is on the right.
It was about an hour later that I realized I was walking on the mid-range of Tai Mo Shan. I was not climbing up to its top. I figured that I would just take it as it comes, rather than going back. There were generous shades throughout this trail and it was actually very pleasant.
About another two, three hours later, I still have not made it back to civilization as I had planned. I have crossed the Tai Shing Stream, one of Hong Kong’s largest streams. One characteristic of the Tai Shing Stream is its large rocks.
Google Map told me to follow signs for the Shing Mun Catchwater.
I ended up here on a high plateau looking onto all of western New Territories. This view made it all worthwhile for me. The top of Tai Mo Shan was in sight, but I would have no time to climb up because the sun would set in an hour or so.
I then descended upon a serious set of stairs down for about 15 minutes. It was so steep that I slipped a few times.
Photo: sign at the end of the steep stairs down from the plateau, and I headed over to the Chuen Lung direction via the Lung Mun Country Trail.
The final stretch of the hiking was the Lung Mun Country Trail. I walked for about another hour on this trail.
I then came upon the paved road. A group of fellow hikers showed me the way back to Chuen Lung.
Photo: Sign at the beginning of the Lung Mun Country Trail showing the way to Chuen Lung. I made a right on the paved road for another 15-20 minutes and I was back in civilization.
What a day! Statistics: 6.5 hours of walking, 29,677 steps, 159 floors.
Perhaps I can share some tips on how one can reach this high plateau with exceptional views. Going from Lead Mine Pass is a very long hike. Therefore one can first start at Lung Mun Country Trail by walking 20 minutes from Chuen Lung. About 5, 10 minutes after crossing the third bridge, you will come to a crossroad with this following signage. The Lung Mun Country Trail will continue straight all the way to the Shing Mun Reservoir. If you turn right you will track the Shing Mun Catchwater. But look to your left for a long set of steps up. Take this path up. It will eventually lead you to the Lead Mine Pass.
Photo: at the first crossroad on Lung Mun Country Trail, you will see this sign. The way up the plateau is on your left.
This section is very steep and you might want to use a hiking cane. Once climbing up this set of stairs, you will reach the plateau. To get back to civilization, walk back down and either go back the way of Chuen Lung or follow this sign back at the crossroads for Shing Mun Reservoir.
Finally, I would like to once again caution readers about hiking in Hong Kong. I have planned the original hike with an expectation of 3-4 hours of walking. But thankfully I prepared plenty of water and some warming foods for myself. As such, getting lost in what turned out to be a 6.5 hours hike was not a stressful event. I also started rather early in the day, and so an additional two to three hours would still be within the daylight. If not for having well-prepared for contingencies, the experience would have been very stressful.
In this part of the New Territories, many of the trails are not endorsed by the government. That means the government has not established clear road signs, and the trails do not have proper names. As such, you can’t count on fellow hikers to show you the way, because they all have different understanding of what these trails are called. They could have told you very different stories of how the trail system takes you.
It was out of pure fortune that my phone had reception throughout. But you also can’t count on that in many of the rural areas in Hong Kong. I relied on Google Map to take me back to Chuen Lung. Although it all turned out OK in the end, I have gotten lost with Google Map in the rural areas many times before. This time, I was just lucky. Whew.
On this brilliant day we visited the Tung Chung Fort in Tung Chung. History During the Daoguang Reign, the Qing Government built two strategic naval camps to clamp down on the opium trade and the pirates in the South China Sea. The site at Dapeng, …
The Lead Mine Pass is where the MacLehose Trail Section 8 meets the Wilson Trail Section 7. Located in the northern end of the Shing Mun Reservoir Country Park, the Lead Mine Pass is as much a rest station as it is a landmark. The …
For all of December it is red leaves season in Hong Kong. One of the most popular sites for viewing sweet gum trees is Tai Tong in Yuen Long. In fact, the red leaves are so popular that there is a special route called the Red Leaves Express. The double decker runs between Yuen Long Town and the Long Ping MTR Station from December 5, 2020 until January 17, 2021.
There are a few sweet gum tree groves along Tai Tong Shan Road. We parked at a temporary parking lot on Tai Tong Shan Road for a day parking fee of $80. We then walked up the trail and saw the sweet gum trees.
Tai Tong is hands down the most popular location in Hong Kong at this time of the year. We went on the Friday before Christmas, it was a weekday and yet there were probably thousands there. That made the picture-taking very difficult. I did manage to snap a few good pictures:
Given that there has been no travelling for almost a year now, we patted ourselves for having “made it” to Japan, or we could pretend we went to Canada. This local site would have to do for now.
A look around in this area for red leaves only will take more than an hour. Allow ample time for picture-taking though because there are so many people. We did not stop at the sweet gum trees. We went further up to see the Reservoir Islands, since my friend has never visited that site before.
Overall, we spent about three hours there, perhaps 2.5 of which was walking. Both the sweet gum trees and the Reservoir Islands were popular sites. People had to form lines to climb up the mountains to see the Reservoir Islands as well.
The leaves contain a few chemicals that determine their colors. Chlorophyll gives the leaves their usual green color. Carotenoids are yellow and anthocyanins are red. When it turns cold, the temperature in addition to strong sun rays break down the chlorophyll. This process also induces the production of anthocyanins. Therefore the leaves turn red at this season.
Normally, the Tai Tong Shan Road Parking Lot is where drivers would stop before heading up to the Tai Tong Shan Road trail. Because I assumed the parking lot would be full, I took the offer of the $80 day parking at the temporary parking lot. As it turned out, this parking lot is much farther from the beginning of the trail. When we walked by the normal Tai Tong Shan Road Parking Lot, I saw that there were still spots open for meter parking there. It is therefore worthwhile to go further to check availability at the Tai Tong Shan Road Parking Lot proper first. If there is no spot there, then certainly head back. Paying $80 would save lots of trouble.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Red Leaves Express of Sweet Gum Woods of Tai Lam Country Park (2020-2021).
With no car this day we decided to visit the outlaying islands. I opted for an easy trail in Lantau Island, a stroll on the seaside of Sunny Bay. The trail ends at the Cheung Sok Island. The Cheung Sok Island is an uninhabited island …