Grieving Over Fallen Cherry Blossoms.

Pink cherry blossom against the blue skies.

Today, I decided to go to Tung Chung and walk out of town on Chek Lap Kok South Road towards the airport to see the cherry trees that are currently in full bloom there. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone else in Hong Kong had the same idea!! Although it is a week day, it was absolutely mobbed!!

These cherry trees were planted in 2021 as part of an initiative pioneered by the Hong Kong Aviation Authority to beautify the environment around Chek Lap Kok Airport. They began by planting ten cherry trees along one side of the road. Later they planted even more trees on the opposite side, bringing the total number of cherry trees up to around a hundred. That sounded to me like a sight well worth seeing.

A Cloud of Bright Pink Cherry Blossom.

I decided to do an online search to try and come up with a good title for this blog, so I googled cherry blossom quotes and was drawn to one by a Japanese writer called Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. It's taken from his book 'Sasameyuki' which apparently translates as 'A Light Fall Of Snow'. I have pasted the full quote below. Sachiko is one of the 'The Makioka Sisters' - the main characters in his story. They apparently spend a lot of time lamenting the passing of their earlier lives.

"The ancients waited for cherry blossoms, grieved when they were gone, and lamented their passing in countless poems. How very ordinary the poems had seemed to Sachiko when she read them as a girl, but now she knew, as well as one could know, that grieving over fallen cherry blossoms was more than a fad or convention." Jun’ichirō Tanizaki

Such beautiful flowers.

Anyway to get to the cherry trees, I went out of Tung Chung's covered bus station and crossed the road towards the open temporary bus station, then followed Tat Tung Garden Path between this and the cable car station. This path led me to a pedestrian bridge. I climbed up the stairs and crossed the road to the waterfront. I paused to take some photos of some stunningly beautiful bauhinia trees. One had lilac blossoms and the other had white.

White Bauhinias.

White Bauhinias.

White Bauhinias.

Lilac Bauhinias.

I then headed left from the bridge, walking by the side of the road, rather than by the waterfront. I soon came to a bridge and walked across this enjoying the lovely views. The cable car trundled by overhead on its way to the Big Buddha.

Looking at the cable car from the bridge.

Cherry blossom garden sign on the bridge.

There were so many people I had to walk really slowly. It reminded me of trying to wander through Causeway Bay on a Sunday. Yes, that bad.

Crowds on the bridge.

At the far side of the bridge, I was now on Chek Lap Kok Island. I came to the original ten cherry trees. They were gorgeous, but a little past their best. I photographed them anyway as I had space to do so, since most people hurried by to reach the greater number of trees on the other side of the road.

Close up of some cherry blossom flowers.

Some cherry blossom was pale pink, some was darker.

A cluster of cherry blossom.

I had been thinking the road would be hard to cross as it is full of traffic shuttling back and forth from the airport, but there were actually traffic wardens who stopped the traffic intermittently so that people could cross. Otherwise it would have been chaos.

Most of the trees on this side of the road were at their peak, but it was really difficult to move around due to the crowds. Most people were trying to take selfies which was really difficult due to the constant passing of human traffic. I did not bother with selfies and just concentrated on the blossom.

Crowds in among the blossoms.

Crowds at the cherry trees.

The cherry blossom was certainly plentiful here.

And at its peak time for viewing.

Such a cheerful sight.

When I could stand no more of the crowds, I walked to the waterfront and enjoyed the views out across the sea. Many other people were doing the same thing.

Down by the waterfront.

Down by the waterfront.

Boat passing by.

The strange thing was that it is February. The weather has been cold and grey and foggy for days, but today the sun came out and the temperature shot up. I always wear sunscreen, but I still ended up getting burnt.

I decided to cross back over the road and climb up Scenic Hill. This is a small hill, 253 feet above sea level, with views over the airport and over Tung Chung.This should be an easy and short hike, but because of the unexpected heat, it really wasn't easy at all. Everyone was puffing and panting. The problem was there was very little shade.

Stairway to Scenic Hill.

Path on Scenic Hill.

At the top of the hill there is a trigonometrical marker and a pavilion. The pavilion provided shade but it was jam packed full of people, so I could not really escape the sun there either.

Trigonometrical marker.

Trigonometrical marker.

Pavilion.

Lots of people were climbing on the rocks here to pose for selfies.

Posing on top of Scenic Hill.

Posing at the top of Scenic Hill.

From this spot there are panoramic 360° views. I could see the Silveri Hotel in the distance and realized I was standing right in the middle of the view I keep taking from our bedroom window when we stay there.

Looking over the airport.

Looking towards Tung Chung.

Looking down on Tung Chung.

Looking at Caribbean Coast,Tung Chung.

Mountains in the distance. Silveri Hotel in the middle.

Looking back at the bridge I had walked across.

By this point I was so hot, I was beginning to fear I would get sunstroke. I wandered back down the hill. When I got back to the waterfront, I was feeling a bit better as there was some shade around, so I decided to walk along by the edge of the water. This is my third time here. The first time the promenade was not completely built and I could only walk along about half the length it is now. The second time I came here in the dark for Mid Autumn Festival, so this was the first time I have seen the whole walkway in the light. It's quite nicely done with seating areas, flower gardens and brightly painted buildings.

Sign for Tung Chung Promenade.

Looking out to sea from Tung Chung Promenade.

Photogenic seating area on Tung Chung Promenade.

Looking down on Tung Chung Promenade.

I really liked the chili pepper plants in one of the promenade gardens.

Chili peppers.

It's possible to catch a ferry to Tuen Mun from here, but it does not sail very frequently.

Tung Chung Ferry.

There was some Tung Chung themed artwork decorating the promenade.

Waterfront playground and artwork.

Artwork showing the Big Buddha and cable car.

Artwork showing the airport.

Artwork showing Tung Chung Fort and Temple.

To my surprise I suddenly came to an area filled with blossoming cherry trees and to my even greater surprise there was noone else there. I got some of my best photos of the day here. Later more people came, but it was still nothing like the area by the airport.

Cherry trees on Tung Chung Promenade.

Brightly coloured building and cherry blossom.

Cherry blossom on the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

Cherry blossom on the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

Cherry blossom at the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

As always, I had some grocery shopping to do. When I got home, Peter would not believe me when I said I was all sunburnt. He just kept saying: 'What are you on about? It's February.' I can still feel my face burning even now and I have a headache from too much sun.

I sent some pictures of the cherry trees to my friend Jason, and he wrote back to say: 'Where are you with all these blue skies? We are in a dense fog here.' I was beginning to feel I must have wandered into a parallel universe - and a pretty hot one at that.