Category Places and Trails

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…

Tung Ping Chau the Flat Isle of Sedimentary Rocks

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 in Hong Kong’s smallest country park

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 – Chek Chau – and its Ruddy Rocks

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,…

Biodiversity of Hong Kong including the Hong Kong Geopark

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…

Tai O stilt houses, Tiger Hill, and hike to Yi O

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…

Shalotung – haven in the New Territories hills

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…

Up and over Sunset Peak on Lantau

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…

Hoi Ha Wan and Pak Sha O

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.

Sham Chung – curiouser and curiouser

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…

Tung Ping Chau beach

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…

Five Hong Kong Hikes as Winter Warmers

With respite from Hong Kong’s summer heat and humidity, winter is great for hiking Table of Contents Jungle Jaunt: Tai Po Kau to Shing Mun Wild Farm: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Super Circuit: Lai Chi Wo and Sam A…