January 2022

I don't normally go hiking two days in a row. My legs can't take it, but yesterday I had to go all the way to Central, Hong Kong Island to get eyedrops for my husband. I couldn't make up my mind whether just to go and get them and come home, go get them then go shopping, or go get them then go walking.

Eventually I decided I'd go get the drops, then take the nearby 15 bus up the Peak and from there walk up Mount High West which is famous for its fantastic views.

On the way my bus stopped at a red light right next to a beautiful market in Wan Chai, which was selling flowers and plants for Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Market.

I was enjoying the views on the trip up the Peak, then I noticed it start to get darker and darker. By the time we arrived, the mountain was enclosed in a dense fog. I walked to the nearby viewing point to see how bad it was. It was almost impossible even to make out the Kowloon side of the harbour. Not a lot of point in climbing up Mount High West for views in such circumstances, so I'd have to do something else.

Lions View Point Pavilion.

Foggy view over Victoria Harbour.

I took a wander around the Peak Galleria taking some photos and thinking about what to do.

The Peak Tram is currently closed and undergoing renovation.

Lounging around by the tram.

I always photo this little cafe, just because I like it.

Chinese New Year Decorations in Peak Galleria.

Outside the Backyard Pet Store.

I liked Mr Jelly Belly outside Candylicious.

I finally decided I would just enjoy walking back down the Peak instead of taking transport. There are quite a few different ways to do this, but I decided I would go via the Pokfulam Country Park. Previously I have walked down to Pokfulam Reservoir on a dirt trail after visiting the Pinewood Battery. This time I took the paved path, which is very easy to walk on and completely closed to traffic.

Entrance to Pokfulam Country Park.

Foggy view of the reservoir I was heading to.

There were lots of beautiful trees around the path, many were covered in moss. They seemed to be thriving in the damp environment and leant a kind of spooky air to the walk, but I mean spooky as in atmospheric rather than scary. I passed by several gurgling streams. Their water level was low as this is dry season, but their sound was still a peaceful accompaniment to the walk. In many places people had written messages onto the moss covered rocks - a sort of plant based graffiti.

Tree clinging to a wall at the start of the walk.

Trees taking over the world.

This huge branch was covered with growth.

Multi-trunked tree.

Stream but the water level is low in the dry season.

Another nearly dry stream.

Jungle view.

People leave graffiti here by writing on the moss.

Little shelter on route.

Naturally having decided to walk down, it began to clear up a bit, but it didn't matter. I was enjoying my forest walk. I felt a bit lazy though as everyone else I passed was walking up the mountain, rather than down.

Some mountains were beginning to clear up as I walked down.

I passed a couple of little waterfalls and a place where many trails branched off. One day I may do the Peel Rise Walk, but today I just stuck with going down to the reservoir.

One of the waterfalls on the way down.

Stream.

Waterfall.

A Choice of Routes.

Decisions, decisions.

Selfie on route.

Eventually I reached some war remains which I have seen before and knew I was nearly down. It was incredibly quick, considering how long it took the bus to get up there.

War Remains.

War Remains.

I think these will have been store rooms.

Maybe for weapons.

Past the store rooms, I had reached the reservoir. I've been here before. It's a small reservoir and it is only possible to walk along one side. At the end of it, there's a beautiful old building which used to be a watchman's cottage. At the end of the reservoir there's a riding school.

View over the reservoir.

View over the reservoir.

View over the reservoir.

End of the reservoir.

The Watchman's Cottage.

Horse in the riding school.

Last time, when I was writing up my blog after visiting this reservoir, I discovered that there was a beautiful old building near the reservoir and that I had missed it. Of course, I had forgotten all about this, but then I suddenly saw a sign for University Hall and I remembered. To get to University Hall I went through a gate in the wall. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if this building was open to the public or if I was trespassing. There was no-one around, so I just went for it.

University Hall is currently a hall of residence for male students at Hong Kong University, but it has gone through many different incarnations.

It was originally built by Douglas Lapraik, a wealthy businessman of Scottish descent, and was known as Douglas Castle. In 1839 Lapraik travelled to Macau to become an apprentice watchmaker. Then in 1842, he moved to Hong Kong and ventured into the world of shipping. He was very successful and helped co-found the Hongkong Whampoa Dock Company. In 1861 Lapraik leased a hill next to a site where a reservoir was just about to be created and began building a castle. This was finished around 1864, but Lapraik only lived here briefly as ill health forced him to return to the UK where he died in 1869. His nephew, who inherited Douglas Castle, had a stained glass window erected in his beloved uncle's memory in Saint John's Cathedral. Sadly this was destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

On the opposite side of the road from University Hall stands Bethanie which was built by the French Mission in 1875 as a sanatorium for sick missionaries. In 1894, when Hong Kong was experiencing a terrible bout of bubonic plague and many people were fleeing, the French Mission bought Douglas Castle. They added a new wing, a chapel and a printing press. Under the French, Douglas Castle was renamed Nazareth. During the Second World War Nazareth was requisitioned by the Japanese. Then after the war, overseas missionaries were no longer welcome in Mainland China, causing the French Mission to be reduced in size. They maintained Bethanie but sold off Nazareth. In 1954 the building was bought by the University of Hong Kong and converted into a hall of residence.

The chapel of Nazareth is now a dining hall and its crypt is now a student common room. There are two elephant-like statues on the main staircase of University Hall. These are considered to be unlucky and students must not touch them near graduation or they will fail all their exams.

Entrance to the hall near the reservoir.

Entrance to the hall near the reservoir.

Stone Inscription.

University Hall.

University Hall.

Beautiful Staircase.

Elephant-like statue.

Elephant-like statue.

Bethanie.

Instead of boarding my bus home next to Bethanie, I decided to walk along Pokfulam Road for a while, as I remembered there were some lovely views from here over Cyberport and Lamma Island. Previously I've only looked at these from a speeding bus.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Views from Pokfulam Road.

Finally, when I reached the Queen Mary Hospital, I boarded a bus, as it was difficult to continue along the road due to traffic. I headed towards Wan Chai, did my shopping and went home.

Queen Mary Hospital.

Reservoir Views.

Yesterday I decided to go for a walk around the Shing Mun Reservoir. To get there I took the MTR to Tsuen Wan, exited through exit B1, walked to Shui Wo Street and took minibus 82 to its last stop next to the reservoir. This was the same route I used when I went to the Gin Drinkers' Line last year, though as that was a Sunday, I had to queue for an hour. This time I got straight on board a minibus and even had to wait a while for it to fill before the driver would leave.

As our minibus neared the reservoir, suddenly a large monkey ran across the road right in front of us, then disappeared up and over a wall. This brought back memories, because this is the second time I have chosen to do a walk famous for its huge wild monkey population and though they are cute, I must admit I am also a bit scared of them. If I know I am going into an area with wild monkeys, I will not have a single item of food with me. Last walk I watched a monkey leap onto a guy's back to get into his rucksack. None of them came anywhere near me that walk and I was hoping they wouldn't come near this time either!!!

Before I started walking, I took a photo of the lovely door that marks the entry to the Shing Mun Reservoir route. Then I headed up a monkey-themed staircase.

Shing Mun Reservoir Door Sign.

Monkey Staircase.

Monkey Staircase detail.

The Shing Mun Reservoirs are located in an area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin. There's an upper reservoir and a lower reservoir. I was only planning on walking around the much larger upper one which takes around three hours.

At one time this area was a fertile valley with several farming villages where Hakka people grew rice, tea and pineapples. However, Hong Kong needed more fresh water, so the villagers were relocated and in 1933 construction work began on a dam, which would be 122 metres wide and 85 metres high. The resulting reservoir which flooded the valley has a capacity of over thirteen billion litres. This reservoir was originally called Jubilee Reservoir to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, but was later referred to as Shing Mun. This was a much older name for the area and means Fortified Gate, as apparently hundreds of years ago a fort was located in this area.

I only intended to walk round the reservoir this time, but there are many walks here including stretches of the Maclehose and Wilson trails.

At the top of the stairs, I set off along the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail, so called because pineapple farms were located here before the creation of the reservoir. The Pineapple Dam Nature Trail is a beautiful dirt track which crosses streams, passes little waterfalls and has the occasional lovely view over the reservoir. On my last visit it was covered everywhere in monkeys. This time there wasn't a single monkey anywhere around. I wondered if it was due to the rather damp drizzly weather, but I wasn't complaining, because, as I said, I'm a little nervous around all these monkeys. What amazes me about this area, and indeed the entire trail, is that it is filled with picnic sites. Who on Earth would be brave enough to try and eat a picnic with a battalion of macaques about to pounce on them?

Signpost for the trail.

View of the Reservoir from the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail.

Fellow Hikers.

Bubbling Streams.

At the end of the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail, I climbed some steps up to a paved road. I went right and began my round the reservoir hike. I have done a lot of Hong Kong reservoir walks now and each has its own character. The Shing Mun Reservoir is famous for two things: macaques and paperbark trees. I was about to enter the world of the paperbark tree.

The paperbark tree is a member of the myrtle family. It grows in swamps, in floodplains and near rivers. It has white, peeling, paperlike bark. On this walk, first there is a beautiful corridor lined with these trees. Then, off to the right, there is a sign pointing out waterside paperbark tree. In winter, which is when I visited, water levels in the reservoir are low and the roots of these trees are very exposed. In summer, when it rains copiously every other day, the water level rises and these trees become completely surrounded by water. In both seasons, they look stunning.

The Paperbark Corridor.

A good spot for a photo.

Sign for the Waterside Paperbarks.

People flock here to photograph the beautiful trees.

The trees have white trunks and paperlike peeling bark.

Close-up of the tree trunks.

In winter they have exposed Roots.

Trees line the banks.

Trees and Reservoir.

Trees line the shores.

A Beautiful Spot to Rest and Relax.

Tranquility.

Reflections.

Roots.

Islands.

Photo from internet showing paperbark trees after summer rains

I wandered past gurgling streams, serene picnic sites and beautiful plants. All I could hear was the trickle of water and occasionally a sudden shower of rain that came and went in moments. Every now and again a bird would dart past on its way from tree to tree. Still no sign of any mischievous monkeys. Thank goodness. Eventually, next to one of the picnic sites, I noticed a path down to a beautiful grassy meadow by the still, blue waters of the reservoir. I wandered along it to enjoy the calm greenery of my surroundings.

Stream.

A Splash of Colour.

Picnic Sites.

Ferns.

Sudden Rainfall on a Pool.

Fallen tree in grassy meadow.

Water Inlet by the Meadow.

Log pile.

After relaxing here for a short while, I continued on round the reservoir At one point I took a short diversion to a lookout point. This lookout point has a little shelter where it is possible to take a rest. It also has spectacular views over the reservoir and towards Tsuen Wan. Below the lookout point sits a little leisure deck. I decided to take a detour to see what it was like.To get there, I wandered down some stairs and along a path. There were beautiful views on the way. When I reached the leisure deck, there were a couple of people exercising there. The views from here were beautiful and there were more steps down towards the water. I did not take these as I didn't want to have to climb all the way back up, though I learned later that I could have walked all the way to a little path that led to the main dam from here. I'm sure it would have been lovely, but then my way was lovely, too, so it didn't matter.

Shelter at the lookout point.

Looking towards the leisure deck.

Mountains all around.

Sign for the leisure deck.

View over the reservoir on the way to the leisure deck.

View over the reservoir on the way to the leisure deck.

View over the reservoir on the way to the leisure deck.

The Path to the Leisure Deck.

View over the Shing Mun Reservoir from the Shing Mun Leisure Deck, Hong Kong.

View over the Shing Mun Reservoir from the Shing Mun Leisure Deck.

The next part had a few up and down sections. I loved the little stairways that led up the mountain through the thick jungle foliage. There were lots of these. At one point I passed a huge important looking grave. Not sure who was buried there. Eventually, I reached another viewpoint with seats. Again the view was wonderful. From here it was mainly downhill. I passed the trailhead for Maclehose Section Seven and then I was at the main dam. The walk was nearly over. Still no sign of any monkeys.

I loved these mysterious little stairways which were scattered around.

Jungle stairways.

This huge grave was in an extremely scenic spot on the trail.

One of the many picnic sites which line the reservoir.

View from the next viewpoint.

Selfie at the next viewpoint.

Section 7 of the Maclehose Trail which goes up Needle Hill and on to the Tai Po.

The main dam is very impressive. It separates the Upper Shing Mun and Lower Shing Mun Reservoirs. It is, as I mentioned before, 122 metres wide and 85 metres high. The water from here was used to provide drinking water for this area and for Hong Kong Island. There are good views from here over the reservoir on one side and over the Shing Mun Gorge on the other.

At the main dam.

Across the glory hole towards the dam.

Tower and Reflections.

Looking across the dam.

View over the Shing Mun Gorge.

Looking towards the Lower Shing Mun Reservoir which here is largely hidden by foliage.

Dam Wall.

Looking back across the dam from the far side.

Huge Plaque telling the history of the dam.

At the far side of the dam, I heard a rustling sound. I looked round and there was a monkey in the trees. It suddenly leapt down and started walking along the fence right next to me. I was pleased that at least I could see one and take a photo of it. After all it was only one. How scary could that be? More rustling. "Ah!" I thought. "Even better two monkeys." Then something else was moving in the trees. Three, four, five monkeys. I took some pictures. To my surprise noone else seemed to show any interest at all in the monkeys.

I paid a visit to the nearby toilet, took a photo of the entry to Maclehose Stage Six where the war relics that make up part of the Gin Drinkers Line are, then started to walk the short distance back to the minibus stop. On the way, to my astonishment, I saw that the trees were filled with monkeys, there was a hut with at least ten monkeys running around on its roof, the concreted over slopes were crawling with monkeys who seemed to be using at as a makeshift slide, a picnic site cordoned off for COVID was swarming with monkeys. No wonder noone else had been paying attention to the first monkeys I had seen. They had just walked past masses of them.

Monkey on a fence.

Looking for fleas.

Looking for fleas.

I'm king of the castle.

I guess noone told these monkeys this picnic site was shut.

So fine me then. I don't care.

Monkeying around.

Through the bars.

I've gotta get out of this place.

At last I reached the minibus and headed for home. On the way back the minibus stopped next to this lovely mural. Quite pretty, I thought and that was the end of a very relaxing day out.

Floral Mural.

I had my walking schedules mapped out for this week, but for one reason or another they changed at the last minute. I research walks on a whole plethora of sites and I have subscribed to some of these. Two days ago, I received a video of a hike to Lau Shui Heung Reservoir. It looked amazing, but what I noted most was the line of autumnal trees reflected in the still waters of the reservoir. The trees were stunning, but they were close to shedding all of their leaves. Should I visit? If I was going to see the autumn colours there, I had better hurry up and the necessity for speed spurred me on to getting up early and going for it.

The only off-putting bit about going to Lau Shui Heung Reservoir is that it's in Fanling and that is pretty far from where I live. I expected it to take ages, but it really didn't. I got a bus from my home to Sunny Bay, took the Tung Chung Line to Nam Cheung, switched to the Tuen Ma line in the direction of Wu Kai Sha and then when the train reached Hung Hom switched to the East Rail Line. The East Rail Line used to be the KCR and when I lived in Sha Tin, it was my main way of travelling. I have a certain fondness for it. To my surprise, it only took me about one and a half hours to get to Fanling from my home, pretty much the same as my commute to work was on a daily basis.

Fanling.

I noticed each station of the East Rail Line now has its own floral motif. This is Fanling's.

There are lots of things to see in Fanling and today I wasn't really looking for them, as I just wanted to go and see the reservoir, but I will be back to do Fanling justice later.

To get to the reservoir I exited Fanling Station through exit C. This is on platform level so no need to go to the upper levels to exit. I then looked for green minibus 52B. I was lucky - there was one in and no queue. Now all I had to do was get off at the correct stop, which is the Pat Sin Leng Country Park Roundabout. I worried about missing it, but almost the whole bus wanted off there. They were all going to see the leaves.

My friend sent me this picture of Fanling Minibus Station during a typhoon.

At the roundabout, it's necessary to head off to the right. The walk to the reservoir is along a paved road with a very slight incline and only takes 15 to 20 minutes. It's an incredibly easy walk. So easy, I could even do it in summer, I think!!! All around the road is the beautiful mountainous scenery of the Pat Sin Leng Country Park. Of course there was also silver-grass and beautiful trees.

Mountain scenery on the walk there. One of my closest friends is from the village in the distance, though I didn't know that till I showed him my photos.

Everything is peaceful and green.

I loved this tree.

A stairway surrounded by silver-grass.

The Lau Shui Heung Reservoir is famous for two things: its mirror-like reflections on its incredibly calm waters and a row of deciduous cypress trees which change colour in autumn, but would I be in time to see these?

On arrival at the reservoir, there's a lovely viewing spot straight away. There were lots of people here, even on a week day, as everyone loves autumn colours. I could see the row of colourful trees in the distance, but it wasn't easy to capture the colours in photos as they were just too far away. Even without bright colours, the view was wonderful. It was sunny and the reflections were perfect.

Lots of people had come to enjoy the scenery.

The waters were still and the reflections were perfect.

A slightly more zoomed in view.

Absolute tranquility.

The view the other way.

I assumed I could walk right round the reservoir and headed off to the right. It was beautiful, but I could only go a short way before I hit a dead end. However, there were splashes of autumn colours here, too. There was also a viewing point to climb to, though I didn't go up and there was a tree with a thick, horizontal branch sticking out over the water that lots of people were trying to stand on for a photo.

Autumn colours on the reservoir.

Autumn colours on the reservoir.

Autumn colours on the reservoir.

I walked back to my starting point and then headed in the other direction. There were various trails into the country park, but I stuck to walking round the reservoir as far as I could go. As I got nearer to the famous line of trees, their colours became stronger. At each viewpoint there were lots of people, so I asked someone to take my photo.

At the park entrance there's a choice of ways to go.

I liked the look of this little shelter.

One of the trails next to the reservoir.

Lau Shiu Heung Country Trail Sign. This is the way I went.

COVID Notice. Some people were employed to walk up and down playing information to tell everyone to keep their masks on and maintain social distancing.

Me posing with the trees.

And again.

Eventually I found the perfect spot for the classical line of brightly coloured trees photo. I stood here for a while as it was just so lovely. The perfect way to cast away your cares and just enjoy nature.

Classic view of autumn colours at the reservoir.

The line of trees is beautiful from every angle.

The colours on the line of trees stand out beautifully.

At the far end of the reservoir there are some lovely bridges across a stream. I especially liked the one with the arch that reflected brilliantly on the water below. The other bridge had a sign post in Chinese that everyone liked posing with. From certain angles the bridge looked like it was being overwhelmed by nature.

Bridge across a stream to the far side of the reservoir.

This bridge looks like it's in the middle of the jungle.

I loved this bridge and reflection.

Someone rushing by up above.

This was a popular place to pose.

The stream wasn't moving fast at this drier time of year and it also provided beautiful reflections of the surrounding forest.

Reflections of trees in the stream.

The roots of the trees near the water grew in a mass of tangles and some formed strange shapes. One even formed a perfect circle. This was another popular photographic prop with many people sitting on it to take photos.

A tangle of roots.

A circle of tree roots.

A tangle of tree roots.

After the stream, I arrived right next to the colourful trees. There were many people taking photos here. The nearest trees were a wonderful fiery orange, the further ones were nearly bare already. I was glad I had come. It seems I pretty much just made it in the nick of time

Colourful trees and peaceful waters.

Burning Orange.

Crowds enjoying the trees.

A lovely place to walk your dogs.

People posing by the water.

Fiery trees by the water.

Looking towards my original viewpoint.

I could have happily stayed here longer, but I retraced my steps back to the roundabout and caught the minibus back to Fanling. I decided I would look at the temple near the station before heading home and leave all the other sights for another day.

Fung Ying Seen Koon Temple is a Taoist temple, dating from 1929. It is located close to exit B of Fanling Station. Unfortunately, it was being renovated when I visited and the main temple building was covered in scaffolding and inaccessible. I decided to wander around the other parts of the temple anyway. I entered through the large temple gateway and climbed up the stairs to the first terrace. Here there are twelve statues depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac. On the other side of the terrace there are plants and the lift.

Temple Gateway.

The temple building was not looking its best. I visited here before, years ago.

The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, starting with the rat.

And from the other side ending with the pig.

I was born in the Year of the snake so I took a close-up.

Lift if you don't want to climb the stairs from the entrance.

I climbed up further and then began wandering around the parts of the temple that were open to the public. Like most temples here it was all on different levels with many stairs. There was a little pond filled with brightly coloured fish. This temple has quite a popular vegetarian restaurant and many people seemed to be visiting that. Another reason to come here is to tend to your departed relatives. Behind the temple there are many crematorium niches, each one has a photo of the person whose ashes are inside.

Plan of the temple compound.

Temple decorations.

The vegetarian restaurant.

Painting near the vegetarian restaurant.

Colourful temple building.

Colourful Temple Buildings.

Pond with huge orange fish.

Burial niches.

Climbing higher again I passed a small shrine and reached a pretty pavilion. In front of it were two Bixi based stele. Bixi was apparently one of the Dragon King's nine sons. He is a dragon with the shell of a turtle. There were good views over Fanling from here. Behind this area there was a little graveyard

Shrine.

Pavilion.

Pavilion.

Colourful temple roofs viewed from pavilion.

View over Fanling from high up on temple.

Stele with a Bixi base.

Details on a gateway.

I've no idea what this detail is but to me it looks like a bat with a man's face.

Graveyard at the back of the temple.

After visiting the temple, I made my way back home.

Sham Shui Po.

Today I returned to Sham Shui Po with two goals in mind: I wanted to look at Sham Shui Po Park and I planned to climb Garden Hill.

I began with the park. To get there I walked past a shopping mall called the Dragon Centre and the old-style Sham Shui Po Police Station which dates from 1924. There were lots of murals outside the police station.

The Dragon Centre.

The Dragon Centre.

Mural near police station.

Mural near police station.

Mural near police station.

Mural near police station.

Sham Shui Po Police Station.

In front of the police station.

Through the police station archway.

I passed these baskets on the way to the park.

My reason for wanting to go to the park was more to do with its history than its present incarnation. Historically this was the site of a British military barracks. Then between 1941 and 1945, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong, they turned this into a prison-of-war camp for military prisoners. Later, following the Vietnam War, the barracks became the extremely overcrowded Jubilee Transit Centre for Vietnamese refugees. The old barracks have long since been completely demolished and this park now stands in their place. It was opened in 1984.

Apparently there are two small memorials in memory of the prisoners who lost their lives here and two maple trees planted specifically to remember the Canadian soldiers who died in the war. These were what I wanted to see, but unfortunately, the park was being completely refurbished and half of it was shut down and hidden behind barriers. That half was where the memorials were, so I could not get to see them.

The present park is actually really two parks separated by Lai Chi Kok Road. I had a look at both parts of the park. The bigger one was filled with people performing their morning exercises and there was a colourful kindergarten next to the smaller park.

Plan of the bigger park.

Shelters to sit in.

Shelters to sit in.

Shelters to sit in.

Sculpture in the park.

Map of the small park.

Colourful housing next to smaller park.

Art outside the kindergarten.

Art outside the kindergarten.

I knew the walk up Garden Hill would just be a short one, so I decided to spend some time wandering around Sham Shui Po first. Sham Shui Po translates as Deep Water Pier, though now due to land reclamation it is no longer right next to the sea. It's an old area, very working class and has not been gentrified in the way many parts of Hong Kong have. Sham Shui Po is famous for markets and different streets specialise in different goods.

Last time I went to Sham Shui Po I wandered around looking for specific sights or streets. This time I just decided to wander and see what I could find. This is a much better policy here. You won't get lost, you'll hit an MTR sign somewhere and you can enjoy the place without getting frustrated by it.

At first I passed many streets filled with stalls selling food. I photographed the fruit and vegetable ones. The meat ones were a bit too gory. There were streets selling clothes, shoes, cloth, kitchenware, all sorts of stuff.

I love fruit and veg shops.

Everything is so colourful.

Busy Streets.

One street specialises in craft materials and fashion accessories.

This is more to do with kitchenware.

Cloth Shop. Near the park there was a whole collection of cloth shops all squeezed into a tiny space.

Clothes Shops.

A bit of this, a bit of that.

LED devices.

Obviously the roast goose is good here.

And here.

Food Shops.

Entrance to a restaurant.

As Chinese New Year is coming up soon, there were many shops selling Chinese New Year decorations. One street, Fuk Wing Street, seemed to specialise in these. As you can see from my photos, red is the main lucky colour here. At Chinese New Year houses are decorated with red decorations and unmarried people are given red packets with money in them. Traditionally brides wear red clothes on their wedding day. It's only recently that some people have started having white weddings here, as white traditionally symbolises death. Yellow is also a lucky colour and is associated with royalty. Green is mixed. If a man wears a green hat, it means his wife is being unfaithful!!

Getting ready for Chinese New Year.

Lanterns for Chinese New Year.

Getting ready for Chinese New Year.

Everywhere is red.

Getting ready for Chinese New Year.

I like that one.

Shopping for decorations for Chinese New Year.

Lanterns and fire-crackers.

Lanterns and flowers for Chinese New Year.

Sham Shui Po still has a lot of old buildings. Here you can still find quite a lot of Tong Lau which literally means Chinese buildings. Tong Lau were popular from the late nineteenth century until the 1960's. They are a kind of tenement building, usually two to five stories high. The upper floors are residential, but the ground floor is commercial, a shop or business of some kind. Some Tong Laus have upper stories that jut out, providing shelter from the rain or sun to those walking the streets below. Some Tong Laus have balconies. Tong Laus were once very common here, but most have been knocked down and replaced by high-rise. Fortunately, in the last few years there has been a movement in favour of preserving some of these and new uses are being found for them, such as restaurants or hotels.

I love this old building. It's over seventy years old and the ground floor is now a Chinese medicine shop.

Closer View.

Old pawn shop. I keep finding these everywhere.

Another pawn shop.

Older, shorter buildings.

More older shorter buildings.

Shorter buildings.

Golden Computer Arcade. This is very famous in Hong Kong.

Building with jutting out floor.

Old Building with balconies.

Sham Shui Po is apparently home to four temples. So far I have only found two and I found these twice. The first time they were shut, but this time I went inside. The ones I keep finding are the Sam Tai Tsz Temple and the Pak Tai Temple on Yu Chau Street. There were lots of people inside the temple, frantically preparing stuff for Chinese New Year. The Sam Tai Tsz Temple dates from 1898 and is dedicated to a god who saved the area from plague. The Pak Tai Temple dates from 1920, was built by fishermen and is dedicated to the god of the north.

At the temple entrance.

In the larger Sam Tai Tsz Temple.

Lots of activity inside.

Many deities.

In the smaller Pak Tai Temple.

Colourful Candles.

I'll need to visit again to find the other two temples Sham Shui Po is never done. Next I headed towards Tai Po Road. There were decorations up for The Year of the Tiger. I stopped to photograph these.

Decorations for The Year of the Tiger.

Across the road was Mei Ho House. This was one of eight H shaped buildings built in 1954. These were built as part of the Shek Kip Mei Resettlement program. On Christmas Day in 1953 a huge fire swept through the Shek Kip Mei squatter camps, which were filled with refugees from Mainland China. The squatter camps had no electricity or running water. People lit their homes with kerosene lamps. One of these fell over and started the disastrous fire. The fires left around 53,000 people homeless. The government built resettlement blocks to deal with the situation. This was the start of Hong Kong's public housing program. The H shaped buildings offered very basic accommodation, but could be built quickly. Mei Ho House is now a youth hostel, cafe and museum, but is currently closed due to COVID.

Courtyard of Mei Ho House.

H-shaped Mei Ho House from above.

H-shaped Mei Ho House from above.

Shek Kip Mei is right next to Sham Shui Po.

The walk up Garden Hill starts right next to Mei Ho House. There is a plaque at the front of the building showing the way. This walk consists of many stairs leading up a concrete slope. The concrete is there to prevent landslides which used to be a huge problem here in the torrential summer rains. It's called Garden Hill because it faces the Garden Bakery which produces most of Hong Kong's bread. This bakery is still in operation, but is undergoing refurbishment at the moment.

The walk up the hill only takes about fifteen minutes, but it provides beautiful views. Near the bottom there were some small shrines.

Sign for the walk up the hill.

Stairway up Garden Hill.

Hillside Shrines.

Hillside Shrines.

Hillside Shrines.

Hillside shrine.

Even after climbing just a short way there were great views. In the distance I could see the sea, showing that there's been a lot of land reclamation since Sham Shui Po was a Deep Water Pier. This is a very urban climb and many people come here at night to photograph the sunset and the city lights.

Before the top there is a path with fantastic views over Kowloon. There's also the occasional brightly coloured plant to brighten up the place and even a tiny garden.

At the top there were lots of people exercising and there was a Venetian Mask Sculpture which seemed to have been strangely placed next to a shelter.

View on the climb up.

View over Sham Shui Po. The big building is the West Kowloon Magistracy.

The red building is the Garden Bakery.

Silvergrass made it to here, too.

Sham Shui Po.

View with a bit of greenery.

View with flowers.

Overlooking Shek Kip Mei.

Flowers.

Trigonometric Marker.

Strange place for a sculpture.

Interesting tile at the top.

Obligatory Selfie.

Obligatory Selfie.

Small Garden.

Wood Pile.

Flowers brighten the hillside.

View on the way down.

View on the way down.

When I came back down, I went for a walk in Sheung Li Uk Gardens, which border Tai Po Road. There were good views of the Kowloon Magistracy from here and also over Saviour Lutheran School.

Bauhinias at the bottom of the hill.

Sheung Li Uk Gardens.

Sheung Li Uk Gardens.

Kowloon Magistracy.

Saviour Lutheran School.

Finally, I went home and took my husband out for cider and poppadoms.

Cider and Poppadoms are Peter's favourite part of the week.

Cheers.

Hikewise it was a case of trying to do the Ho Pui Family Walk with photos this week, but I did do some other stuff, too.

One of my friends asked a while ago if there were still horses in Discovery Bay, as he is thinking of bringing his children over to see them. The horses are owned by Discovery Bay Resorts and were used for carriage rides and as wedding carriages for brides- there is a wedding chapel next to the Auberge Hotel here.

I realised I hadn't seen the horses around for quite a while. Had they fallen foul of covid? So since their field is behind one of our beaches and not far from the supermarket, I went to have a look when I was going shopping. I was pleased to see the horses were there, happily munching away on their grass. I had a walk along the beach, too since I was there and noticed there are still people camping there even though it's getting a lot colder. In the distance I could see the Tiger's Head that did my leg in.

Horses.

Horses.

Down on the beach.

Down on the beach looking towards The Tiger's Head.

After I broke my phone, my generous husband gave me one of his, so I took it out for a walk to test out its camera. To do this I just wandered around Siena Park, Discovery Bay. There are beautiful plants and views there. It is always a pleasant place for a walk.

Colourful plants in the park.

Colourful plants in the park.

Colourful plants in the park.

Colourful plants in the park.

Bird Statues in the Pond.

Bird Statues in the Pond.

Sea View.

Today, since I wanted to shop in Tsing Yi, I decided to take another walk in Tsing Yi Park and find out if the trees near the pond had finally become autumnal - or not. In fact, I can say they have finally changed colours and are now looking fairly orange. Several old men were out for a stroll and walking their pet birds. I photographed one bird that was enjoying a swing on the trees.

Autumn colours by the pond.

Orange coloured trees by the pond.

Autumnal Path.

Autumn is here.

Colourful Trees.

Colourful Trees.

Colourful Trees.

Trees lining the pond.

Touch of Colour.

Touch of Colour.

Statues.

Airing your pet bird.

Flowers, waterfalls and bird statues.