Though it lies just outside Tai Po Market in Hong Kong's northeast New Territories, Sha Lo Tung is a wonderfully tranquil, beautiful place. Ringed by hills, and with gently undulating land with sandy soil, its name means "Sand Carried in a Basket".

This tranquillity belies the fact Shalotung has in recent decades become the focus of arguments raging between would-be developers and conservationists.

Several development plans have been mooted, involving a golf course and luxury housing; all have so far been rejected on environmental grounds. And Shalotung remains one of Hong Kong's loveliest places.

It's hidden away, most readily reached by an unobtrusive, narrow road leading up from the edge of Tai Po Industrial Estate. There are trails here; and as the going's easy, you can stroll around, passing abandoned fields, woods, streams, and villages that are sadly fallen into decay.

There's a small car park at the top of the road, and from here a footpath crosses a stream, then runs by groves of trees and tall, thick stemmed bamboo.

Soon, there's a hamlet on the left: Cheung UK, largest of the clusters of farmhouses in Shalotung. The houses still stand; there are new red paper banners on a small ancestral hall; yet the buildings' white paint is mostly fading, as the hamlet threatens to decay completely.

Top news for hiking buffs - and a shameless plug by me, for my HK Pathfinder guide. Here's a press release I drafted:

Asia 2000 announces the publication of the eighth edition of one of Hong Kong’s most successful guidebooks: Hong Kong Pathfinder: 24 day-walks in Hong Kong.

“We believe this is the best-selling [English language] Hong Kong hiking guide ever,” says Asia 2000 director Mike Morrow. “It was first published in 1995, yet remains popular because it covers routes to suit all hikers – whether they want to stroll short, easy trails, or tackle more challenging itineraries. We’ve kept it up-to-date, by revising information on transport and trails, as well as expanding route descriptions, and adding new places and new walks."

Hong Kong's Rockit Music Festival just on in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. Though only a couple of international bands this year (one a rapper with band - Princess Superstar; the other UK rock group Feeder), still a fun weekend - tho dunno if the bureaucrats-that-be may be persuaded that's a good thing, and this can be an asset to HK, deserving some support.

Here are some photos, also some guff re the event. 

 Read all about this story by going to the following link (a similar article appeared in the South China Morning Post):

Five-fold rise in shark attacks sparks calls for cull of protected great whites

This was my response, in letter to the SCMP (published on Sunday 8 October 2005):

The article in the SCMP (October 2) has certainly sparked debate and yet has not given the shark a chance to defend itself.  Again we witness a trophy photo of a surfer holding up his damaged surfboard and the words terror as he probably fought for his life (indeed)...gripping stuff we have all heard and seen before.

Perhaps one other alternative we haven't considered is actually banning marine users from the favoured feeding areas of Great White Sharks. 

Can we not issue 'an offence against nature' to those that take the (sometimes deliberate) risk when sharing the same water with the ocean's apex predator?  Enough of grabbing front page headlines with near miss shark attacks, and instead fine those that dress up in neoprene and surf in seal rookeries or spearfish in other favoured feeding habitat areas. It's not as though we do not know where the sharks are.

As for putting money on another shark attack this summer (an 18 year old waitress's prediction), this does not sound particularly scientific nor help the sharks fight for survival.  I can also guarantee that if I dressed the waitress in a wilder beast costume and asked her to run around the Serengeti National Park then I'd put my money on her being eaten by a lion or attacked by a pack of hyenas.

I suggest we leave the scientific assessment of culling to scientists and marine specialists and not surfers or land based residents; and for once leave the shark an area of ocean where it can swim around and cull those deemed to be over exploiting an area of habitat....if that mistakenly includes humans so be it.