Digging For Gold.

Fishing boat.

I'm trying to think of outings that are enjoyable even in the heat. Today, I managed to achieve just that by visiting Hong Kong's Gold Coast. This turned out to be a very relaxing and pleasant day out.

Hong Kong Gold Coast is located in the So Kwun Wat district of Tuen Mun. It is a residential development consisting of twenty residential buildings, a shopping mall, a resort style hotel, a yacht and country club, a marina and a beach. In fact it is quite similar to Discovery Bay where I live, but with a longer beach.

To get there I took the MTR to Tai Wo Hau and then boarded the 61M bus on the far side of Castle Peak Road. I sat upstairs as I knew the journey would be quite scenic with some excellent views of bridges. The bus passes close to the Ting Kau Bridge. This bridge is a 1,177 metre cable-stayed bridge which connects Tsing Yi to Tuen Mun Road. In the distance it is also possible to see the Tsing Ma Bridge.

The Ting Kau Bridge with the Tsing Ma Bridge behind it.

The Ting Kau Bridge with the Tsing Ma Bridge behind it.

The Ting Kau Bridge.

The Ting Kau Bridge.

I stayed on the bus past the Gold Coast stop and got off instead at Cafeteria Beach. I had read that the beaches here were basically all connected to each other, so I wanted to have a bit of a walk.

When I reached the beach, I deliberately headed in the direction away from the Gold Coast to see if there were any other beaches in the other direction. By doing that I ended up at Kadoorie Beach. I now know if I had kept going I would have come to Castle Peak Beach, too.

Kadoorie Beach is a small and pretty beach with changing rooms, toilets, showers and so on. What I was surprised to see here were some rusty old cannons pointing out across the waterfront. I went to investigate them. My goodness it was slippy trying to walk on the concrete area the canons were on.

The area behind the cannons was surrounded by rolls of barbed wire. I later found out that this area was Boulder Lodge which is a mansion belonging to one of Hong Kong's richest families - the Kadoories. The Kadoories were originally Iraqi Jews. Historically they have lived in India, China and Hong Kong. They own China Light and Power, the electricity provider here and the famous Peninsula Hotel. As well as being successful business people, they have also done a lot of philanthropic work, too. I could not see Boulder Lodge, so I am just assuming it is still there.

The cannons are there, I think, because Tuen Mun was once the site of a fortification. Its name means Garrison Gate in English. There would have been lots of cannons here to repel pirates who were at one time a major problem in Southern China.

I photographed a sculpture of a whale here. I noticed on my walk that there were lots of sculptures of marine creatures. I have to admit this whale looked nothing like an actual whale. All the other sculptures were much better.

Looking down at Kadoorie Beach.

Whale sculpture.

Cannons at Kadoorie Beach.

Old Cannon pointing out to sea.

Old Cannon pointing out to sea.

Kadoorie Beach was beautiful and peaceful.

I then headed back to Cafeteria Beach. There's a rocky waterfront path between Kadoorie Beach and Cafeteria Beach. I noticed an interesting looking boat sailing by and used my camera zoom to photograph it. On the other side of the walkway there were pretty flowering trees.

Boulders on walk between Kadoorie and Cafeteria Beaches. at the beach. You can hardly see it in this photo, but there is a tiny Buddha on the rocks here.

Pretty flowers.

Fishing boat.

Close-up of fishing boat.

Cafeteria Beach is divided into Old Cafeteria Beach and New Cafeteria Beach. There is a little stream marking the boundary between the two. On the new beach there is a statue of a mermaid perched on top of a pile of rocks. There are also some fish sculptures. Cafeteria Beach also has toilets, showers, shark nets, changing rooms, plus presumably a cafeteria.

Old Cafeteria Beach Map.

Boats on Old Cafeteria Beach.

Boats on Old Cafeteria Beach.

Boat on Old Cafeteria Beach.

Old Cafeteria Beach looking towards the Gold Coast Hotel.

Bridge dividing Old and New Cafeteria Beaches.

Fish Statue on New Cafeteria Beach.

Mermaid Statue.

Boulders on New Cafeteria Beach.

The next beach along is Golden Beach. This is pretty much continuous with New Cafeteria Beach. Golden Beach is a man-made beach and was created as part of the Gold Coast Building Project. I believe its sand is imported from Hainan Island. Apparently the way the tides are, this beach is constantly getting washed away and frequently needs replacing.

Golden Beach Map.

Looking at Golden Beach.

Cafe on Golden Beach.

Golden Beach.

Golden Beach.

Golden Beach.

Golden Beach.

There are more statues of sea creatures here, including pipe-fish, a sea horse and a turtle.

Pipe-fish Statue.

Pipe-fish Statue.

Sea-horse Statue.

Sea-horse Statue.

Turtle Statue.

At the end of Golden Beach, I got onto a walkway towards White Dolphin Square. On the walk there I passed the Gold Coast Marina. This is home to many yachts. The Gold Coast residential apartments are located behind it. From here there are also lovely views back over Golden Beach. The Gold Coast Hotel is a resort hotel with a large swimming pool.

Gold Coast Marina.

The Marina across bougainvillea.

The Marina and a Hibiscus.

The Gold Coast Hotel and Marina.

Looking across flowers towards the Gold Coast Hotel.

Looking back at the Gold Coast Hotel.

Gold Coast Residential Area.

Gold Coast Residential Area.

Looking back at Golden Beach.

Golden Beach.

White Dolphin Square has a statue of three leaping dolphins. It is a peaceful place which affords good views of the surrounding area.

White Dolphin Square.

White Dolphin Square.

White Dolphin Square.

From White Dolphin Square I walked back towards the Gold Coast Hotel. I didn't go in. It's not so easy to wander around hotels nowadays since COVID started. I could hear that the swimming pool was a popular area. There were lots of happy laughing children in there. I could just make out a water slide and some sunflower shaped showers.

Gold Coast Hotel.

Swimming pool with sunflower showers, Gold Coast Hotel.

Outside the hotel I noticed a gorgeous pond filled with golden fish statues and very huge colourful carp. I swear if I had fallen in there, those would have eaten me in seconds.

Pond outside Gold Coast Hotel.

Pond outside Gold Coast Hotel.

Huge colourful carp in the pond.

Huge colourful carp in the pond.

Huge colourful carp in the pond.

Further on I saw the Gold Coast Hotel Farm which was producing a lot of vegetables. I wonder if they use these in the hotel meals.

Gold Coast Farm.

Gold Coast Farm.

Past the farm there was a sort of nature trail leaf path with imprints of different leaves on it and information boards explaining what each leaf was.

Leaf Path.

I then came to some beautifully tended gardens just outside the Gold Coast Plaza. From here I walked across the road to the bus-stop and caught the 61M bus back to Tsuen Wan. Again I sat upstairs so I could enjoy the views.

Gardens outside the Gold Coast Plaza.

Gardens outside the Gold Coast Plaza.

Gardens outside the Gold Coast Plaza.

On the journey back to Tsuen Wan the sun was out and some of the scenery I passed was beautiful.

Scenery on the journey back.

Scenery on the journey back.