Living In The Shadow Of The Mountain of Dragons and Tigers.

Lung Fa Shan Environmental Education Centre.

A couple of months ago I went to see The Old Dairy Farm in Pokfulam and before going I had a look at some of the older parts of Hong Kong University. The last place on my list was the Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre, but I ran out of time and did not actually get there. "No problem," I thought. "I'll just go another time." Well, last week I was reading some of the local news online when I suddenly saw an article about the shock sudden closure of The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre. Basically the article said that the Hong Kong Government and the University of Hong Kong had decided to close the centre down and it was unclear what the future of the building would be. The staff at the centre had, I think, only been given about two weeks notice. Well, if I wanted to see this place, I was going to have to go straight away, or it would be too late, so I went there yesterday, the day before it closes down.

The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre is right on the edge of Lung Fu Shan Country Park, which is the smallest country park in Hong Kong. I have been in this park several times, but have not actually followed the Lung Fu Shan Country Trail. I would have loved to have done that yesterday when I visited the centre, but I had no time. I needed to go to the bank and Peter and I were going out for dinner, so I decided I would just visit the centre before it closes and do the walk on another day.

Lung Fu Shan translates into English as Dragon Tiger Mountain. It is located between Mid-Levels and the Peak and is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals, such as butterflies, frogs, toads, lizards and birds. As well as wildlife, there are historical relics here, such as The Pinewood Battery, which I have already visited and the Victoria City Boundary Stone.

There are several different ways of getting to The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre, but I decided to take the MTR to Hong Kong University Station, exit through Exit A2 and wander through the university to Eliot and May Halls. Then, I climbed up the steps on the right hand side of these halls and came out on University Drive. I walked up past the traffic barrier then wandered along Kotewall Road. The centre is on the right hand side of the road, down some steps that are just behind the public toilets.

Looking across Sun Yat Sen Garden.

Passing the Sun Yat Sen statue on my walk through Hong Kong University Campus.

Eliot Hall.

May Hall.

View from the campus.

A sun bath of turtles.

The purpose of the centre has been to educate the public about environmental issues through talks, guided walks and workshops. It also provided information about the Lung Fu Shan Country Park and lent out guide books, maps and binoculars to visitors. In addition it was a centre for artwork related to the environment and had a beautiful landscaped garden.

The centre is housed in a lovely old colonial bungalow. This was originally the home of the watchman who looked after the Pokfulam Reservoir Filter Beds, which were located nearby. The house was built in 1890 along with two smaller buildings which housed other Waterworks Department workers. The first watchman here was called Nund Singh. He moved into the house in November 1890 and was paid HK$240 a year for protecting the filter beds from damage and pollution.

The old bungalow.

The old bungalow.

Pond in front of the bungalow.

In the 1980's the bungalow became government quarters. A landscape architect named Stephanie Crockett lived here. She decorated the interior of the cottage in Oriental style and landscaped the garden. While she lived here, the house was featured in Elle Decor magazine. Stephanie loved to host many weekend parties for her friends here.

Taken from the internet a photo of one of Stephanie Crockett 's garden parties.

Taken from the internet the article in Elle Decor magazine about the house.

At the same time the smaller buildings on the site were still owned by the Waterworks Department and one of them was home to the Lee family. Mr Lee worked for the Waterworks Department and lived here with his wife and two children. The children remember a childhood surrounded by nature on the edge of a mountain and encountering lizards and snakes and other wild animals when they played.

At one point, when the water in the filter plants were no longer used for drinking, the residents here used them to swim in.

Taken from the internet a photo of swimming in the filter beds.

In 2008 the buildings ceased to be residential and became home to The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre. It remains to be seen what they will be used for next.

The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre was quite busy when I visited, with many people rushing to visit one last time before the centre closed down. Everyone was taking lots of photos.

Crowds wandering the garden.

The middle building and a lady who was taking the photo session very seriously.

The middle and end building.

The end building.

I could not visit the smaller two buildings. One of them the activity centre was closed and the other is used as staff offices.

Inside the old colonial bungalow there is a pretty fireplace and some photos of the bungalow in the past. There were also some artworks connected to nature.

Fireplace.

Fireplace.

Display cabinet.

Old pith helmet.

On the outside of the building there is a colonnaded verandah.

The verandah.

Me on the verandah.

Bench on the verandah. It says: 'Wandering across alleys amongst public housing estates, shopping centres, dai-pai dongs, parks, roads wide and straight. I came to take them all for granted.'

The garden has lots of trees, a herb spiral, a butterfly garden and a lovely little pond. There's a view from behind a stone bench at the end of the garden, but unfortunately, being Hong Kong, it's a view of a building site.

Trees in the garden.

Tree murmurs, listen to the sounds of nature.

Herb spiral.

Hanging brooms.

Potted plants.

Flowerpots outside a window.

Potted plants.

My favourite thing about the garden is that it has lots of little clay men. I think the idea of them is to plant flowers inside their head. The fun thing about them is they are positioned all over the place and are sometimes tricky to find. I found lots, but I'm not sure if I found all of them as I don't know how many there are.

Contemplative clay man by the water.

This was my favourite one.

Clay man conversing with trees.

Clay man conversing with trees.

Clay man conversing with trees.

Clay man climbing through the branches.

Clay man pointing out something he's seen on the ground.

Clay man gathering plants.

Clay man hiding in the shrubbery.

Clay man relaxing in the sunshine.

Clay man having a sleep.

Clay man hugging a tree, at least I hope that's what he's doing.

I really wanted to go off and follow the Lung Fa Shan Trail, but it will just have to wait.

As I walked back to the University Station, I passed The Stone House. This is also on Kotewall Road, but on the other side from The Lung Fa Shan Environmental Education Centre and closer to the turn off for the university. The Stone House dates from 1923. It was originally three stories high, but the upper story was later removed. In the 1940's this building was home to The Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. Their first home here when they arrived from Shanghai. The ground floor of the Stone House was once used as a coach house or garage to store and repair vehicles.

Information on the outside of Stone House.

Stone House.