Places and Trails across Hong Kong
Utilise urban parks equitably, mitigate Hong Kong’s climate hazards now
Hong Kong will face more intense heat, flood, storm surges and biodiversity depletion under climate change. Healing Parks, an advocacy group, says that urban parks can help to mitigate these hazards – but current park design guidelines fail to consider climate resilience. If the government remains inactive, it would harm…
Wang Chau, Basalt Island and Bluff Island
The Ung Kong group of islands is a cluster of three islands – Wang Chau, Basalt Island and Bluff Island, lying off the southeast tip of the Sai Kung Peninsula. They’re made of the same tuff that occurs from the southeastern peninsula to the Ninepin Group, and developed in the…
Activities in Hong Kong outdoors
Taking Hong Kong landscape photos come rain or shine
Even if you don’t travel outside Hong Kong, your photos have to be much the same, week after week, day after day after day. Shooting from the same spot, it’s possible to take highly contrasting photos, such as by heading out at different times of day, and making…
Cycling From Tai Po Market to Tai Mei Tuk on Rented Bikes
One of the best ways of getting some outdoor exercise is to get on a bicycle, and ride away some of those coronavirus claustrophobia blues. Hong Kong hardly abounds with good routes for relaxing cycling, but there is an especially fine one in the northeast New Territories, from…
Hong Kong’s Wonderful Wildlife
I had a whatsapp message from Nick Florent this afternoon, a bird on the beach, on Cheung Chau; there was a photo too – a red-footed booby! This seabird is rare in Hong Kong, and even then seen pretty much only over waters well south of Hong Kong…
I’ve seen various social media posts and even a couple of media articles about large numbers of Red-base Jezebels Delias pasithoe in Hong Kong recently. It seems people especially notice them during cold spells, when many of these butterflies are grounded by the chill, maybe dying – though…
Weather including tropical cyclones
Tropical Cyclone Ma-on Headed for Hong Kong
25 August 2022 (evening) update: Ma-on took a track somewhat south and west of earlier forecasts; passed within 200km of Hong as a severe tropical storm early this morning. So, “no biggie”. Quite dry while it passed Hong Kong too, with intermittent showers; though still some heavy rain…
Severe Typhoon Mangkhut highlights perils of massive reclamation by Lantau
Typhoon Mangkhut helped show “storm surge” is a threat to modern cities, not just something for the history books. On 7 September, the Post published an opinion piece by me (“What Kansai airport flooding can teach Hong Kong about the perils of reclamation amid climate change”), saying the disaster…
Hong Kong conservation
One of the best arguments for protecting the San Tin fish ponds area – rather than destroying a large area to build the San Tin Technopole – should be mitigating flooding risk, including in downtown Shenzhen, which is also on the Shenzhen River floodplain. Yes, the Shenzhen River…
The period for commenting on the EIA for Agreement No. CE 20/2021 (CE) First Phase Development of the New Territories North – San Tin / Lok Ma Chau Development Node – Investigation – to give it the official name – ends tomorrow, 2 March 2024 as I post. I’ve commented:…
Though Shalotung is less than 4km from the hustle and bustle of Tai Po Market – around the same distance as Central to Causeway, should a kite care to fly direct – it seems a remote place, hidden away in the hills. The only road to it is…