Although Tin Shui Wai in northwest Hong Kong has become known as the "CIty of Sadness", its West Rail station is the starting point of Hong Kong's first heritage trail, along which you can see a fine selection of buildings hailing from an era when this was an affluent centre for agriculture, especially rice farming: the Ping Shan Heritage Trail.

Though "Hong Kong" may conjure images of a metropolis crammed onto an island on the South China coast, there is far more to the territory than high-rises and busy streets. It's in a superb natural setting, and Hong Kong Island is just one of over 200 islands and islets. While many of these are little more than rocks, there are islands that are home to thriving communities, and others where villages are partly or wholly abandoned. Exploring them, you can stroll along narrow streets through warrens of small houses, hike trails across hills and headlands, admire waterfalls, and relax on beaches in deserted coves.

Even Hong Kong Island has marvellous places beyond the city. One of Hong Kong's most rewarding short hikes leads up Dragon's Back, a ridge that ripples above the island's east coast. You can follow a gentle trail through woodland, then climb steps to the crest of the ridge. On a clear day, there are scintillating views of islands dotting the South China Sea, and of the coast below, where a beach is tucked into a small bay, and two other beaches flank a village that's clustered around a rocky headland.

After hiking, ride a bus down to the village, Shek O, for a cooling swim if it's a hot day, or - if an east wind is blowing - watch surf pounding the tip of the headland.

"I think the photography is excellent... very informative... I found it very interesting."

Shot over the course of 18 months, the 28-minute film is presented by Asiatic Marine director and local marine life expert - and HK Outdoors contributor - Charles Frew.

There's a new trail starting at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island. The 5-km Nei Lak Shan Country Trail circles round Nei Lak Shan, which at 751 metres is the sixth highest peak in Hong Kong. You can start on the trail in northeast Ngong Ping - just where a trail starts dropping down towards Tung Chung.

The trail is clearly marked by this signpost, from which you climb a little; then reach a junction, where you can choose to walk a full circuit, or walk to near the Lantau Skyrail station, looping along the southern slope of the mountain or (longer) heading along the north slopes.

I walked the southern slope in spring: pleasant, with grand views over Ngong Ping including the Big Buddha. Just tried the northern loop, which though longer is more interesting, with views over hills, Tung Chung, the airport and channel across to Tsuen Wan. Passes through woods, and close enough to the Lantau Skyrail that can hear babble from cable cars passing above.

WWF Hong Kong has launched a Save Our Seas campaign, aimed at combatting over-fishing. Just produced a short video, filmed by Hong Kong Outdoors contributor Charles Frew. You can watch the video online, including on YouTube:

WWF Hong Kong SOS Campaign (Eng)

WWF Hong Kong SOS Campaign (Chinese)

(added 27 March:) WWF HK has produded more info on how to help fishermen and our economy, and for consumers re choices of seafood based on how sustainable the fisheries/fish farming are:

At the end of 2006, the Hong Kong Tourism Board published a booklet I helped with (writing, and contributed some photos). Discover Hong Kong Nature: 84 pages, covering range of places including the Peak, Mai Po Marshes, Tai Long Wan (Sai Kung), Cheung Chau, Peng Chau and Tai O. English only (so far). Shot here shows cover; and some pages inside.

Free (aimed at overseas tourists) from HKTB places - including in Causeway Bay MTR station (exit towards Jardine's Bazaar), also Star Ferry TST pier.
Or you can download pdf files with the info, maps and photos via the HKTB page Discover Hong Kong Nature (though downloads didn't work for me with Firefox; on my Mac, ok with Safari).

I'd love to magically transport someone to Ling Wui Shan, and ask, "Where in the world are you?"

"A wild, remote place," might be the first impression, for Ling Wui Shan is the highest point on a stout peninsula of rippling hills, clothed in hardy grass and scrub. It caps the southernmost crest of hills, above slopes plungingto the sea. Just offshore is a cluster of islets, likewise green and with no buildings in view. Inland is a tight group of mountains, their summits often swathed in low cloud.

Only ferries passing in front of the islets, and two or three fragments of urban areas just visible near the horizon, suggest Ling Wui Shan is not really remote. It's in a region renowned worldwide as a densely packed city - Hong Kong, above the southwest tip of its largest island, which exhibits similar contrasts between urban and rural landscapes to Hong Kong overall.

This island, Lantau, is at the mouth of the Pearl River, a location reflected in the identities of those just visible urban areas: Hong Kong Island to the east, Macau across the Pearl River to the west, and Shenzhen in mainland China to the north. Viewed from Ling Wui Shan, Lantau appears completely free from urbanisation, without even towns or villages. Nearby are waterfalls in steep ravines, a temple tucked into a wooded hillside, and even a Chinese style landscaped garden that's reached only by hiking. Walking here when the sky is intense blue, it's easy to agree with Financial Secretary Henry Tang's description of Lantau as, "Hong Kong's biggest and most beautiful island."

The Wong Nai Chung Gap Trail opened around mid-2006, and is Hong Kong's first - and so far only - battlefield trail. It starts just opposite the entrance to Parkview, loops along and down a hillside to pass an old anti-aircraft battery and a couple of pillboxes, then drops to the gap itself, ending at a former bunker complex.

There are boards with info and wartime photos, telling of the brief but intense fighting here, as Japanese forces overran Hong Kong's defences. The bunker at the end of the trail was hidden by soil and vegetation, but has been recently excavated, helping make this a short but fascinating trail.