Blazing the Trails.

A Walk Round Tsing Yi Nature Trail.

22.11.2021 - 22.11.2021

Today I planned to walk the Tsing Yi Nature Trail, but when I woke up outside was gray and raining. I thought about it, then decided to just go ahead and do my walk anyway despite the weather.

I started my day out by taking the bus to Sunny Bay. When we arrived there, lots of people ran frantically from the bus towards the train station. They were desperate to make their train and not be late for work. I sauntered to the station, stopping to admire and photograph some beautiful flowers. Just over a week ago, I was one of the people tearing out of transport at breakneck speed to catch my next form of transport. The ironic thing was we all caught exactly the same train in the end.

Loved having time to smell these flowers.

And these.

Then to get to the trail I took the MTR to Tsing Yi Station, exited through exit A2 and headed straight until I saw the bus station on my right. I boarded bus 248M and rode it to the last stop at Cheung Wang Estate Bus Terminus. It is necessary to pay attention on this journey because it is circular and when it reaches the end it just keeps on going all the way back to the start.

After exiting the bus, I walked left up Liu To Road. After around five minutes, I saw a sign for Tsing Yi Nature Trail on my right. The sign was bordered on each side by steep flights of stairs. It doesn't matter which one you choose as they later meet up. On the climb up the stairs, I saw beautiful flowers and had a fantastic view of the Ting Kau Bridge. This is a 1,177-metre long cable-stayed bridge which connects the northwest of Tsing Yi Island to Tuen Mun Road. This bridge dates from 1998.

Tsing Yi Nature Trail Sign.

Tsing Yi Nature Trail Map.

I took the steep stairway.

Beautiful Flowers on route.

The Ting Kau Bridge.

After climbing a couple of steep sets of stairs, I found myself in an area where lots of locals meet to exercise. They were having impromptu dance classes, or were quietly carrying out their daily exercise routine. They had also built themselves makeshift shelters to sit in and to protect themselves from the sun and rain.

Up early and out exercising.

Makeshift Shelter.

After spending a few minutes watching all the hustle and bustle in this area, I walked to a lovely Chinese pavilion. I think this was pavilion four. This area was home to several hillside graves. Cantonese people like to bury their ancestors in areas with good Feng Shui. High up areas with fresh air and close proximity to water are apparently fortuitous, so there were several graves dotted around this area.

Pavilion Four.

Hillside graves.

After looking at the pavilion, I followed a beautiful forest path to pavilion three. On route I passed lots of lovely, colourful berries. I particularly liked the cute little wooden fences lining the path. At pavilion three there were people sitting relaxing, as well as many carrying out their morning exercises. There were also some elegant, bright red hibiscus flowers.

Beautiful Forest Path.

There were dirt paths on the nature trail, too.

The path had many steep flights of stairs.

Ferns.

Brooms were positioned all over this route.

Paper Bark Tree.

Colourful Berries.

Beautiful Berries.

Pavilion Three.

Another broom.

There were elegant hibiscus flowers all over the walk.

After pavilion three I headed towards picnic area two. On the way, I suddenly remembered reading a blog in which the writer wrote about following a ribbon lined trail around here to a viewpoint overlooking the Tsing Ma Bridge. I suddenly noticed some ribbons on the trees and decided to investigate. The dirt path led to a fence and beyond it there was a steep set of steps for the slope maintenance workers. Someone had cut a large hole in the fence, so I passed through it and descended the steep stairway. Of course, you are not meant to do this for safety reasons. The stairs are very steep and there are many things to trip over and if it rains, the water catchment area next to the stairs will rapidly fill up with cascading streams of water. I climbed down to the viewpoint carefully. It was a wonderful view - the highlight of the whole walk. I could gaze out over the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Ma Wan Channel.

The Tsing Ma Bridge is the fourteenth longest span suspension bridge in the world. It connects the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. It has two decks, a span of 1,377 metres and a height of 206 metres. It carries both road and rail traffic.

Paper bark Trees.

Steep Stairs.

The Bridge Through the Trees.

Wider View of the Bridge and Channel.

Overlooking the Ma Wan Channel.

Excellent bridge Views from the Illicit Viewpoint.

Selfie with the bridge.

The climb back up to the path was tiring. Thank goodness it wasn't a hot day, but it wasn't like the climb in the blog I read. In that they had to grab onto ropes to get back up. I think they approached the same viewpoint by a harder, steeper route.

Once I was back on the path I headed towards picnic area two. There are lovely views from here. In one direction it's possible to view the Tsing Ma Bridge, but from an unusual angle. In the other there are views over Tsuen Wan. There is also a marker here, as it's one of the highest points of the trail, and a lovely rope swing attached to one of the trees. There were lots of gorgeous hibiscus flowers here, too.

Trail Marker.

Trail Marker and Swing.

Hibiscus Flowers Everywhere.

Picnic Table.

Viewpoint at Picnic Area Two.

Unusual View of Tsing Ma Bridge.

Tsing Ma Bridge from a different angle.

More Usual View.

View over Ma Wan Channel.

Views over Ma Wan Channel.

View over Tsuen Wan.

At this point I realized the path I had taken had missed out pavilion five, so I doubled back to have a look at it. It was an elegant pavilion with views over Tsuen Wan, just like the ones from picnic area two. There were lots of lovely plants around on this part of the trail.

Pavilion Five.

Another Broom.

Seating area in Pavilion Five.

Another Tsing Yi Trail.

Colourful Plants.

Wild Flowers.

Strange Umbrella Filled Rubbish Dump in the Trees.

I then walked back to picnic area two, climbed down lots of steps and followed directions for pavilion two. I think I accidentally missed out picnic area one. To get to pavilion two I had to climb lots of steps again. There were beautiful views again. This time they were over an oil depot of all things, but from far enough away it looked pretty. This is the Nga Yin Chau Oil Depot. Currently most of the industry in Tsing Yi is located on the north shore and the south shore is largely residential. Nga Yin Chau used to be a separate island from Tsing Yi, but due to land reclamation it is now joined to it. Around this area there were lots of lovely fried egg plants, which are currently in full bloom.

Stairs, stairs, stairs.

Pavilion Two.

Marker near Pavilion Two.

Fried Egg Plants.

Wild Flowers.

Colourful Berries.

Flowery View over the Oil Refinery.

Oil Depot.

Fellow Hikers.

After pavilion two, I reached pavilion one. Behind it there were lovely views of the Tsing Ma Bridge again. In fact the views from here were some of the best on the whole trail. From near this pavilion there were great views over Tsing Yi and the Ramblers Channel as well.

Pavilion One.

Tsing Ma Bridge from Pavilion One.

Selfie with the bridge.

View over Tsing Yi and the Ramblers Channel.

After pavilion one I walked down a steep stairway with lovely urban views and reached a forested area with a tiny stream and banana plants. It was very peaceful here. The trail through the woods eventually led to the south entrance of the Tsing Yi Trails. I exited here and turned left. I walked for about five minutes till I reached a bus-stop where I caught the 279X bus back to Tsing Yi Station bus terminal.

Scenic views on walk down.