Wild About Hong Kong - hiking, wildlife, conservation and more
Wild About Hong Kong - hiking, wildlife, conservation and more
When collecting a new bicycle from Decathlon in Tai Koo Shing, I figured it might be interesting and some fun to try cycling along the waterfront to the Central Ferry Piers [then, ferry to Cheung Chau]. Well, it turned out…
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…
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…
The most northeasterly land in Hong Kong, set in Mirs Bay and far closer to mainland Shenzhen than to the Hong Kong mainland, Tung Ping Chau is the only sizeable island in Hong Kong to be built only of sedimentary…
Sharp Island (Kiu Tsui Chau) is the dominant member of Hong Kong’s smallest island country park, which also includes seven islets off its northeast and northwest coasts. As the name suggests, the island is indeed angular. The interior is a…
Port Island lies at the mouth of Tolo Channel. Its Chinese name, Chek Chau, means Red [Ruddy?] Island, after the mainly reddish hued rocks. These reddish rocks are sedimentary, and though just 1 kilometre long, and rising to 131 metres,…
Collapse of Hong Kong’s Last Great Volcano Around 140 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous, a grand volcano dominated the landscape in eastern Hong Kong. Its northern slopes rose above present day Tai Long Wan on the Sai Kung…
Ma Shi Chau: an Introduction to the Hong Kong Geopark Ma Shi Chau is one of the best, most easily accessed places to visit for an introduction to the Hong Kong Geopark, and an overview of the geology of the…
Introduction: Biodiversity Depleted yet Rich Lying just south of the Tropic of Cancer, and with a sub-tropical climate – summers are hot and humid, winters tend towards temperate – Hong Kong has a mostly tropical flora and fauna. Though there…
The hills of the mainland northeast New Territories tumble to the sea, meeting the waters of Mirs Bay along a serrated coastline with a jumble of small stream mouths, inlets, bays and headlands. Rocks, islets and islands are scattered across…
With the record May heatwave [in 2018], and the driest start to a year since 1963, this year may serve as a wake-up call regarding the importance of our local reservoirs, and recognising the tremendous engineering feats that created them.…
Less than a year ago, a visit to Tai O might have meant jostling with crowds along the narrow streets, and joining long winding queues to take a bus back towards the city. But in this strange new era for…
On a map of the SAR, the island of Po Toi looks barely a stone’s throw from the southeast tip of Hong Kong Island. It’s small, too, as if it might fit comfortably on the Kowloon peninsula. “Pah! That’s not…
Especially during weekends and public holidays, booths by Sai Kung public piers offer an array of boat tours to nearby islands and scenic coastlines. While longer excursions to view the Geopark’s volcanic rock formations are tempting, there are options for…
Visit Sai Wan on a hot sunny Sunday, and it can seem like the type of tropical “paradise” that many seek, yet few find. In this bay on the eastern Sai Kung Peninsula, tens of people unwind on beaches and…
There may have been some surprised people reading National Geographic’s list of “20 Dream Trails” – chosen by “outdoor luminaries”. Not because nine of the trails are in the US, certainly not for Everest Base Camp Trek or a circuit…
With so many tourists deterred by Covid brouhaha and exaggerated demonisation of Hong Kong people, this is a good time to enjoy some places and services that are usually thronged with visitors. Like the Peak Tram, which on a morning…
Head into the hills from near Tai Po Market, taking a narrow road from the fringe of the industrial estate, and it’s almost as if you’re leaving 21st century Hong Kong behind. The road climbs through woodland, curls to the…
The Sunset Peak massif dominates the interior of eastern Lantau, and its high grassy slopes make for some of the finest upland hiking in Hong Kong. There’s an expansive feel to the landscape, which seems splendidly remote from the city – making…
There are some Kowloon parks – and even a nunnery plus landscaped garden – that are well worth visiting.
Mai Po is a key component of the internationally important Deep Bay wetland, which straddles the border between northwest Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
An easy hike explores the relatively little visited, wild south of Lamma - which is like a corner of the far-flung New Territories.
Reaching the top is somewhat challenging, but the rewards are panoramic views from the most splendiferous summit in Hong Kong.
Double Haven is among the most beautiful areas in Hong Kong, and a ferry ride to Lai Chi Wo on the west shore makes for a wonderful outing.
Hoi Ha Wan - "Bay Beneath the Sea" - cn be wonderfully serene, while Pak Sha O is a traditional Hakka village, in a nearby wooded valley.
On Lantau, you can hike tough hill trails or stroll coastal paths, and enjoy wild landscapes, waterfalls, old villages, beaches and more.
With its traditional hamlets, old woods, setting in a basin ringed by hills within Sai Kung Country Park, Sham Chung should be one of the jewels in the crown of wild Hong Kong. Instead, it has suffered environmental vandalism, and…
The walk over Dragon’s Back, and down to Big Wave Bay, follows perhaps the finest short hike in Hong Kong.
Though it doesn’t boast Hong Kong’s best beach, Tung Ping Chau is a place where you can sometimes stroll the sand and feel almost like Robinson Crusoe – though you have to ignore the rural Shenzhen coastline little more than…
Cheung Chau may look crowded, yet there are pleasant stretches of trail and lovely areas where you should find few people, or no one.
Hong Kong hardly abounds with routes for relaxing cycling, but there is a fine one in the New Territories, from Tai Po Market to Tai Mei Tuk.
Hong Kong has forested areas where you can follow trails, enjoying sounds such as streams cascading, cicadas buzzing cicadas, birds calling.
A trip spanning some 13km across the north shore of Hong Kong Island, travelling from east to west by tram and on foot.
Set in the hills of Lantau, Ngong Ping is a fine place to start a hike - perhaps cimbing higher, up Lantau Peak, or along an easier route.
While long popular with climbers, Tung Lung Chau has also been discovered by other Hongkongers seeking a brief escape from the city.
While most people only see Lion Rock from afar, it's a prime site for rock climbers, and there are a couple of trails to the top for hikers.
It may be possible to revitalise Hong Kong villages so they still have rural character and are great places to live – and visit.
Though easily overlooked, southeast Lantau offers several hiking possibilities, including quiet coastlines and hilltops with grand views.
A full day's itinerary exploring the wilder side of Hong Kong Island, from Shek O in the east to High West, inc beach stop for a swim.
Pak Sha O, a village in the wilds of the Sai Kung Peninsula, eastern Hong Kong, seems almost suspended in time.
Hexagonally jointed tuff is the key formation in the Hong Kong Global Geopark, which comprises eight areas in eastern Hong Kong.
