April 2022

Running Away in Big Steps.

Exploring Tai Po.

26.04.2022 - 26.04.2022

Spiral Lookout Tower.

Yesterday I went to Tai Po in the Eastern New Territories.

In Cantonese words change their meaning depending on which tone they are said in. Tai means big and Po means port or seaside so Tai Po probably means Big Place on the Sea Side. However, Po pronounced in a different tone means steps or strides, so there is a joke here that Tai Po means Big Steps, as it's so far out in the wilds and there are so many wild animals that the inhabitants are constantly running away from them in big steps. You may have to be Cantonese to find this funny, but I thought it was quite cute.

Tai Po originated as a market town. The first market here was located near what is now Tai Wo Station. It was controlled by the very powerful Tang Clan. They charged high rents to stall holders and demanded discounts for themselves on many goods. They also controlled access to the market by owning the ferry boat many people had to use to get there. In 1892, seven years before the British leased the New Territories, a group of seven villages united together to form the Tsat Yeuk or Alliance of Seven. They were tired of the Tangs' monopoly and wanted to create their own market. The new market was centred around Fu Shin Street on the other side of the Lam Tsuen River. In addition to creating the market the Tsat Yeuk built the Man Mo Temple, a well and the Kwong Fuk Bridge across the Lam Tsuen River.

I began my explorations of Tai Po at the Lam Tsuen River. This river originates on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan. In fact it's the river I was exploring on my waterfall hike in my last blog. It is around 10.8km long and empties into the Tolo Harbour near Tai Po. There are several beautiful bridges crossing this river in Tai Po. Two of the most attractive are the Kwong Fuk Bridge and the Tai Wo Bridge.

The Kwong Fuk Bridge was originally built in 1896 to allow people easy and free access to the markets on both sides of the river. The original bridge has been replaced and the new bridge is in a slightly different position. The Tai Wo Bridge is similar in style to the Kwong Fuk Bridge, but I can find no information about when it was built. I suspect it may not actually be very old. Anyway I found both bridges rather beautiful.

Tai Wo Bridge.

View along Lam Tsuen River.

Kwong Fuk Bridge.

Boats on the Lam Tsuen River viewed from the Kwong Fuk Bridge.

People enjoying resting in the shade on the Kwong Fuk Bridge.

Around both bridges there were lots of small boats and many beautiful wading birds: mainly egrets and herons.

Egret.

Heron.

Although we used to come to Tai Po a lot when we lived in Fo Tan (because our favourite Indian restaurant was located here), I don't know where all the historical buildings are, so I was pleased to see lots of pink tourist signs. These helped me find everything I wanted to see.

The next sight I found was the Man Mo Temple. This is dedicated to Man Tai, god of literature, and Mo Tai, god of war. It was built in the 1890's by the Tsat Yeuk. It is located on Fu Shing Street, right in the middle of the market. The temple was originally used as an arbitration centre to settle any disputes between stall holders and customers. A set of scales were kept here for this purpose. It was also believed that people would not cheat others right in front of their gods. In 1984, the temple became a declared monument, making it the first building in the New Territories protected by the Antiquities and Monuments Department.

Entrance to the Man Mo Temple.

Incense burner.

Inside the temple.

Incense coils.

Next, I wandered around the market stalls on Fu Shing Street. You can buy all sorts here: fruit, vegetables, meat, dried goods. It was quite colourful and bustling. While I was wandering around taking photos, a large group of police or possibly health inspectors turned up and started taking photos. This was enough to drive me away.

Busy market street.

Vegetable stall.

Fruit and vegetables.

Fruit.

Dried goods.

Market stalls.

I was disappointed with the next sight as it was closed and I really wanted to see it. I assumed it's closure was due to COVID, but have since found out it was only closed because I visited on a Tuesday and that museums have in fact opened up again. This is great news for me, as I will just go back on another day. This museum is the Hong Kong Railway Museum. It is located in the old Tai Po Market Station and displays several old trains. I will add photos after I visit.

This museum is open-air and occupies 6,500 square meters. The old Tai Po Market Railway Station was built in 1913. It has a traditional Chinese pitched roof. It was opened as a museum in 1985.

Sign for Railway Museum.

I walked from the Railway Museum to Tai Po's main square which is known as Tai Ming Lane Square. This is where four busy lanes: Kwong Fuk Lane, Tai Wing Lane, Tai Kwong Lane and Tai Ming Lane, come together to form a square. There were lots of people sitting around enjoying the open air here. There was also a very beautiful flowering tree. Before the 1960's this square was the site of watercress fields.

Tai Ming Lane Square.

Flowering tree in the square.

I then did a bit of aimless wandering around. I found a huge, modern, glass building called the Tai Po Complex which contains government offices, a library, leisure facilities, a market and the Tai Po Cooked Food Centre. Then, I found an old looking building I thought looked nice, but I don't know what it is and next to that there was a lovely church called The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, which dates from 1961. I also found some attractive looking village houses.

Tai Po Complex.

Not sure what this old building is, but I liked it.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

Virgin Mary statue outside The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

Art outside The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

Street art with egrets. I saw lots of these.

Village Houses.

Wan Tai Tong Square.

Flowers brightening up a Tai Po street.

After this I went to see two important historical buildings in Tai Po. I never used to be interested in Hong Kong history, so on all of my earlier visits to Tai Po I didn't even know these existed.

On the 9th of June 1898, British Colonial Secretary, James Stewart Lockhart, and a representative of the Qing Emperor signed the Second Convention of Peking. This granted the British a 99-year lease of the New Territories. Members of the Punti Clans living in the New Territories, mainly around the Kam Tin and Tai Po areas, were opposed to the British takeover, as they were worried about land use, preserving their customs and their traditional inheritance rights.

In April 1899, the British set up mastheads on Flagstaff Hill, Tai Po for a flag raising ceremony, but members of the Punti Clans burnt these down. 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment were sent in to sort this out, but they were quickly besieged by villagers. These events led to The Six Day War which lasted from April 14th to 19th 1899. The British were much better armed than the Punti Clans and rapidly repelled the rebellion. Around five hundred Chinese clansmen were killed in the fighting, but the British wanted peace in the New Territories, so they made concessions about customs and land inheritance to the indigenous peoples there. Even now some of the laws in the New Territories are different to laws in the rest of Hong Kong.

The first lovely old building I went to see was the Old Tai Po Police Station. This was completed in 1889 and this was the site where the flag raising ceremony to mark British control of the New Territories was supposed to take place. This is the oldest surviving police station in the New Territories. During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, the police station was abandoned. Its windows, doors and wooden floors were looted by nearby residents. After the war, the building was restored and it was used as a police station again until 1987. Nowadays this building is known as the Green Hub. It is under the management of The Kadoorie Farms and Botanical Gardens Group. It is a centre for conservation and sustainable living.

The Old Tai Po Police Station is made up of three single-storey buildings: the Main Building, the Staff Quarters Block and the Canteen Block. It was declared a monument in 2021. Again, because it was Tuesday, I could not go inside, so I just took some photos through the fence.

Entrance to Wan Tau Kok Playground at the foot of Flagstaff Hill, but marked Tai Po Primary School.

Wan Tau Kok Playground at the foot of Flagstaff Hill.

Tai Po Old Police Station.

Just across from the Old Tai Po Police Station, there is another beautiful old building. This one is The Old District Office North. It was built in 1907 and was the earliest seat of the colonial civil administration of the New Territories. There was a magistrates court here right up until 1961. Nowadays this building is home to the Law Ting Pong Scout Centre. This building was declared a monument in 1981.

Tai Po North District Offices.

The next part of my explorations involved quite a bit of walking. I visited Yuen Chau Tsai Park. Chau means island and, prior to land reclamation, this area was an island in Tolo Harbour. There's a lovely temple here and a beautiful old house called Island House. Yuen Chau Tsai Park is a pleasant park with little pavilions, a waterside walkway, dragon boats, greenery and flowers.

Boats on the river on the walk to Yuen Chau Tsai Park.

Beautiful flowers in Yuen Chau Tsai Park.

Pavilion, Yuen Chau Tsai Park.

Yuen Chau Tsai Park.

Flowers.

Island House was built in 1905 as the residence for the first British Police Magistrate. It later became the official residence of the North District Officer and the residences of District Commissioners for the New Territories. The last resident of Island House was Sir David Akers-Jones, who was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1987. Island House is now home to the World Wildlife Fund of Hong Kong. It is possible to visit here on a tour. I believe they do some craft and conservation related workshops, too.

Island House.

Coastal view next to Island House.

Hut next to Island House.

Helipad near Island House.

World Wildlife Fund Notice.

The temple here is the Tai Wong Yeh Temple. It dates from the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Originally there was just a stone tablet here, but later a group of fishermen raised funds to build a temple to Tai Wong Yeh. There's a pleasant little garden with a statue of Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy, a water feature and some orchids at the back of the temple.

At the entrance of the Tai Wong Yeh Temple.

Lanterns inside the temple.

Inside the Tai Wong Yeh Temple.

Incense coils.

Kuan Yin Statue in the temple garden

Kuan Yin Statue.

Orchid in garden of Tai Wong Yeh Temple.

Panel at front of temple

The best thing about this area were the egrets, lots and lots of egrets. There were so many of them just off shore when I visited. They were really beautiful to watch.

Lots of egrets.

Egret on a branch.

Egret about to take off.

When I reached the end of Yuen Chau Tsai Park I was right on the river. I could see my next destination, Tai Po Waterfront Park on the other side of the water, so I had to wander over the nearby bridge.

Bridge between Yuen Chau Tsai Park and Tai Po Waterfront Park.

Tai Po Waterfront Park is a really beautiful park, filled with lots of greenery and flowers. It opened in 1994. It's pretty big, occupying twenty-two hectares, and apparently it cost around HK$210 million to build. The park is located between Tai Po Industrial Zone and the Tolo Harbour. There are lots of different gardens here such as: the rose gardens, western gardens, kite flying lawns, water feature gardens. There are also children's play areas, a jogging track and a cycling track. It's possible to hire bikes here. There's a cycle track from here all the way to Tai Mei Tuk in one direction and to Tai Wai in the other. Plus there is an Insect House. The most famous part of the park is the Spiral Lookout Tower, which is 32.4 metres high and provides excellent views over Tolo Harbour. I noticed a couple of cafes where you can have light refreshments, though I didn't try these.There's also a 1.2 kilometre promenade along the waterfront. I walked right to the end of this.

There were several parts of this park I really wanted to see and the spiral lookout tower was one of them. It's located in a garden with ponds. There's a bridge in front of it and it looks out over Tolo Harbour, the industrial estate and Tai Po. I loved the views and even liked the inner view of the tower itself.

Spiral Tower.

Spiral Lookout Tower.

Inside Spiral Lookout Tower.

View from Spiral Lookout Tower.

I also rather liked the so called Western Garden. What I enjoyed here was that parts of the garden were life sized paintings of natural scenes, but they had plants growing over them - a sort of blurring of nature and art - quite clever I thought. There were also lots of statues in this garden.

The western garden.

In the western garden.

Statue in Western Garden.

There were other examples of art, too in the form of graffiti art and small paintings that you could scan an app to see in 3-d. I didn't try this.

Graffiti.

Elephant.

This cat can be made to look 3-d.

As you would expect the gardens were home to some really beautiful trees and flowers. There were lots of splashes of colour everywhere.

Bougainvillia.

Flowering tree.

Beautiful flowers.

Lovely blue flowers.

Flower.

Flowers.

I decided to walk all the way along the waterfront which was quite pretty. It ends at Tolo Corner and an area where you can fish or enjoy the views. I loved the yellow flowering plants which lined the waterfront. There were some pavilions on route where you could rest in the shade. Someone was playing the violin in one of these. Rather incongruously behind the waterfront promenade there are lots of factories in Tai Po Industrial Zone.

Pavilion.

People fishing in Tolo Harbour.

View across Tolo Harbour.

Walking along the waterfront promenade.

On the Waterfront Promenade.

Monument on the Waterfront Promenade.

Tolo Corner at the end of the waterfront promenade

Fish that swim in Tolo Harbour.

Tai Po Industrial Zone behind the park.

Looking towards Ma On Shan.

Looking towards Ma On Shan or Saddleback Mountain.

Looking up towards Tai Mei Tuk.

Other things I noticed about the park were it had a large open air arena, there were many wooden models of animals, there were several lawns and one of these was popular with people flying their kites.

On the kite flying lawn.

Stone Lantern.

Wooden bird.

Wooden birds

Wooden deer.

Water garden.

Arena

I decided to walk back to the centre and the MTR station, but I took a different route along the river. I was surprised and fascinated to see several bridges covered with people's drying washing. I think this is a great idea, but you don't see people drying stuff outside like this in many parts of Hong Kong.

Washing drying on the bridge.

Washing left out to dry on the bridge.

Back in the centre I passed a pub that is supposed to be very popular with ex-pats. Of course it was closed as bars are still forced to shut down due to COVID regulations.

I liked this house.

The Bobby London Pub.

I took the train back home from Tai Po Market Station. When I switched lines in Hung Hom, I took a picture of the flower decorations that are on the walls of East rail line stations. Hung Hom is represented by the hibiscus.

Hibiscus Art at Hung Hom Station.

Posted by irenevt 12:41 Archived in Hong Kong Comments (10)

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls.

A hike to the waterfalls of Ng Tung Chai.

20.04.2022 - 20.04.2022

Middle Fall.

I've been thinking about doing the Ng Tung Chai Waterfall Hike since last September, but I keep making excuses and doing other hikes instead. I rationalise this by constantly telling myself the water level at the falls won't be high enough, but in reality I think the true reason I've been avoiding this hike is because it sounded quite hard. Anyway, yesterday, I finally got around to doing it.

Ng Tung Chai is a village situated on the lower slopes of Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong. Behind the village the Lam Tsuen Stream tumbles its way down the mountains in a series of waterfalls. Most people visit the four main ones, though there are actually several more.

To get there, I travelled to Kam Sheung Road MTR Station, exited through exit C and then took bus 64K in the direction of Tai Po Market. I got off at Ngau Len Wo.

It was quite a pleasant journey and took around twenty minutes. From the bus I took a picture of a monument in Sheung Tsuen Park, not sure what it commemorates.

Sheung Tsuen Park. I think this is a Reunification Memorial celebrating Hong Kong's return to China in 1997.

When I got off at Ngau Len Wo, I crossed the road and immediately saw a sign for the Ng Tung Chai Waterfall Hike. I was delighted, as I often waste so much time and effort trying to find the start of hikes. As I later noticed many times on this walk, the whole route was incredibly well signposted.

I followed the direction of the sign up a sloping road and into the village of Ng Tung Chai. I only passed a couple of village houses as the path to the waterfalls left the village very quickly. There were some lovely flowers and trees in some of the gardens and I liked the fancy mailbox at one house.

Sign for the village as soon as I crossed the road.

Beautiful tree.

Bougainvilia.

Bamboo.

Broad Leaves.

Decorations and fancy mailbox outside a house

Decorations.

Fancy Post Box.

Ng Tung Chai Village.

House and dog in Ng Tung Chai Village.

House in Ng Tung Chai Village.

I left the village via a very steep road with views over a couple of small farms. There were a few well kept village graves on the hillside. I soon reached a large arched gateway which indicated that there was a temple nearby.

Village grave.

Temple gateway.

Little farms.

Little Farms.

One of the little farms.

Farms.

Silver grass.

Banana flower.

The temple is called Man Tak Yuen. It is a Taoist temple and is supposed to be lovely inside. Unfortunately, this temple was closed due to COVID. Just past the temple there is a little bridge and on the far side of this, I saw the first waterfall of the hike. The Ng Tung Chai Waterfall hike is called the Four Waterfalls Hike in English. This is not one of the four waterfalls, but it was quite pretty nonetheless. The trail to the waterfalls starts from next to this waterfall and comes with its very own warning sign. There was a slight tree obscured view of the temple from the stairs up to the start of the walk.

Temple entrance.

Shrine in front of the temple.

Inscription outside the temple.

Bridge next to the temple.

Waterfall next to the temple.

Sign for the waterfalls.

This sign did little to reassure me about the hike ahead.

Looking back towards the temple from the hill.

Very quickly into the walk the trail divides into two. To the right there is a way up Tai Mo Shan without passing the waterfalls. On the left is the way to Tai Mo Shan via the waterfalls. I had no intention of going all the way to the top of Tai Mo Shan on this hike. I just wanted to see the waterfalls, so I took the path on the left.

Soon this path starts to get a bit steep with lots of stairs, but it wanders through the beautiful greenery of the jungle and is perfectly pleasant. I believe this route gets busy at weekends and on public holidays, but yesterday it was fairly quiet. All I could hear as I climbed, was the buzzing of insects, birds singing and water trickling down the hillside. It was very peaceful. Some hikes are friendlier than others. Here everyone I passed said hello.

The path splits at the Tai Mo Shan Country Park sign.

Don't take this path on the right. It misses out the waterfalls. It's the route I came back by.

Follow the sign for the waterfalls on your left.

Some stretches of the path had stone steps.

The way was mainly shaded and surrounded with greenery.

Stone steps through the jungle.

Tree roots growing across the path.

Moss covered rocks.

Giant ferns.

Epiphyte growing out of a tree.

I loved wandering through the jungle.

Some bits were trickier than others.

After about thirty minutes of walking I arrived at the first of the four waterfalls this hike is named after. This is called Bottom Fall. To reach it, you have to leave the path and climb down some steps. I had the whole waterfall to myself. It's shady next to the falls and there are lots of moss covered rocks. I found it very relaxing here.

Bottom Fall Sign.

Bottom Fall.

Selfie with Bottom Fall.

Bottom Fall.

Epiphyte at Bottom Fall.

Once I had made it to Bottom Fall, I knew I could certainly reach the second waterfall as it is only around five minutes further on. This one is called Middle Fall and it's a lot taller than Bottom Fall. There were two other hikers sitting on the rocks here.

Sign for Middle Fall.

Middle Fall.

Selfie at Middle Fall.

I took a slight rest here, as it was the next section of the hike I was worried about. I've read lots of blogs on this walk and adjectives used to describe the section between Middle Fall and Main Fall are commonly words such as gruelling, dreadful, exhausting, daunting. These had not inspired me with confidence. I had promised myself that if I was really tired by this stage, I would turn round and go back down. I could tell anyone who might read this blog that Ng Tung Chai is known as the Two Waterfalls Walk and they would never be any the wiser. However, to my surprise, I was not really all that tired and I was actually enjoying the walk. I ploughed on.

The stretch between Middle Fall and Main Fall is gruelling and exhausting and everything else it has been described as, but it has one thing in its favour - it is also amazingly beautiful. It really is the jungle now. I felt like Jane wandering around wondering where Tarzan had got to. I stopped frequently to catch my breath and photograph everything. The beauty all around me distracted me from the difficulties of the walk.

The path was steep and slippy and in many places incredibly narrow. This would not be fun if it were crowded, as there are many places you cannot pass someone coming the other way. I only passed two other hikers before I reached Main Fall.

I realised that I was drenched in sweat from the humidity even though it was not a particularly warm day. I was also getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I had forgotten to bring repellant.

This part of the walk took me forty minutes. Near the end of this stretch, the path descends around the edge of a cliff with a bit of a drop off to the left hand side. In places you have to sit down and lower yourself to the next part of the path below. At this point I was beginning to question my sanity and that's when up ahead I saw the incredibly tall Main Fall and knew I had made it.

In some places the path was narrow.

In some places it was rocky.

Some parts of the path ran along beside the stream. There were little waterfalls every now and then.

Moss covered rocks next to the stream.

Different colours of mosses and lichens on the rocks.

Being here all alone made me feel like an intrepid explorer.

As you can see I got totally carried away photographing my surroundings.

Jungle path.

Stairs through the jungle..

Stairs through the jungle.

Vegetation lined path.

Rocky Path.

Selfie on the jungle path.

Fallen log.

Flowers.

I believe Main Fall is the highest falls in Hong Kong. The water drops down from a height of thirty-five metres. People swim in the waterfall pools at all four of the waterfalls in summer time. I actually wore my swimming costume yesterday, but we haven't had much rain for a long time and the pools did not look that deep. Add to that, that having got really warm just before Easter, it has mercifully cooled down again. Yesterday was not at all hot.

Sign for Main Fall.

Main Fall.

Selfie with Main Fall.

Zoom view of the top of Main Fall. Someone died here taking a selfie last year.

Main Fall.

After enjoying Main Fall for a while I crossed over the stream flowing out of it. You have to do this on the rocks. There isn't a bridge. I was heading for the last of the four falls - Scatter Fall. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get here as I read some blogs saying the path between Main Fall and Scatter Fall had been wrecked by a typhoon and was impassable. That may have been the case before, but it has been cleared now. There were warning signs about landslips and advice not to go here in rainy weather.

Warning sign on the way up to Scatter Fall

The path from Main Fall to Scatter Falls is short but steep and quite challenging in parts. There were lots of banana trees all around it. It only took about ten minutes between the two waterfalls. Scatter Falls is just above Main Fall. I passed a cave on the climb up, when I investigated it from close up, I discovered it was flooded. There was another cave right next to Scatter Fall. The falls are not exactly imaginatively named: Bottom Fall, Middle Fall, Main Fall. I can only imagine Scatter Falls is called this because it is wide and so the waterfall is scattered across several rocks. Some people have suggested it looks like locks of long hair scattered across a pillow.

The path up to Scatter Falls.

The path up. Those rails came in handy.

The path up. Where did it go?

The path wasn't always easy.

Vegetation on the walk up to Scatter Fall.

Banana Trees.

In places water flowed over this path and bits of it were quite wet.

Wet Path.

Flooded cave on way up.

When I finally got to Scatter Falls, two Chinese girls came along and started taking photos. I offered to take their photo so they could be in the shot together. Then they took my photo. Then one of them wanted her photo taken with me. For a while we were all hopping around all over the place like idiots posing in front of the waterfall. Then we said goodbye and I set off, but suddenly they called me back. One of them had lost her i-phone and they thought I might have taken it. I don't mean they accused me of stealing it. They thought I might have taken it by mistake with all the passing around of phones. Now I must admit I am one of the world's most scatterbrained people. Even I thought I might have taken it by mistake and was wondering how I would be able to explain: 'I'm not a thief, just an idiot.' I began searching frantically through my bags. Anyway it turned out the girl had dropped her phone next to the stream and she finally found it. Then of course they were really apologetic in case they had offended me, but they hadn't. It was all just a big mix up. I thought that girl was really lucky that she had realised right away she had lost her phone or she would never have found it again.

Scatter Fall Sign.

Opposite Scatter Falls is the top of Main Fall.

Cave next to Scatter Falls.

Scatter Falls.

Side view of Scatter Falls.

Me in front of Scatter Falls.

Photo before the great I-phone mystery.

Selfie with Scatter Falls.

I had made it, and what's more I had really enjoyed this walk. However, in many places the path had been like a sort of assault course. I wasn't really relishing trying to get back down it again. I had three choices. I could retrace my steps. I could go up further, then head left and continue on till I reached the road up to Tai Mo Shan. Or I could head up further, then head right. This way would eventually lead me down to the place where the two paths diverged just after the temple. In other words this was the path up Tai Mo Shan that didn't go via the waterfalls. I chose the latter option.

At first this way was very pleasant. It followed a flat path. At one point the path even cut through a ruined building. Then after around fifteen minutes or so, I reached stairs down the mountain. I must admit I did not enjoy this path. The stairs were uneven and difficult to walk on, so I had to concentrate on them fully in order not to trip. This meant I could not enjoy my surroundings. Also they seemed endless and they were really jarring on my knees. I was beginning to think I should have continued on to the Tai Mo Shan Road, but who knows, maybe this way would be difficult, too. I did pass some colourful flowers on the way down and the occasional distant view. I was delighted when I finally reached the bottom.

To get down first I had to go further up

Passing through a bamboo grove on the flat path.

Ruin on the path.

Choices, choices.

Nonstop stairs down. I hated this path. My knees hate me for taking it.

View on the way down.

Flowers on the way down.

Selfie on the way down.

It was wonderful to finally be done with those awful stairs. I caught the bus back to the MTR and returned home to rest my weary legs and feet

Excellent signposting right to the end.

Posted by irenevt 08:29 Archived in Hong Kong Comments (14)

Sharks and Parks.

Visiting Shark Rock and Diamond Hill.

14.04.2022 - 14.04.2022

Shark Rock.

Today I didn't really feel like doing anything, but aware that Easter weekend is about to start and that all the hiking trails will be heaving with people for a while, I decided to get out and about before that happened. My left leg has been a bit iffy since I completed the Rhino Rock Assault Course, so I opted for a short walk involving another weirdly shaped monolith and headed out to Shark Rock near Diamond Hill.

Just as an aside, why is Diamond Hill called Diamond Hill? Well it's not because it's got any diamonds. Apparently this area was known for mining in the past and the Cantonese word for diamonds is the same as the Cantonese word for to drill, only using a different tone. The British misunderstood the local area name which was based on drilling and thought it referred to diamonds. I like that the MTR station name is sparkly to go with the idea of diamonds.

Diamond Hill MTR, note the sparkly bits.

Getting to Shark Rock is easy, take the MTR to Diamond Hill and leave via exit C. Walk towards Nan Lian Gardens, but when you reach them, don't go in, instead cross to the other side of Fung Tak Road. Go right. You will pass lots of sights: the Nan Lian Gardens, the Chi Lin Nunnery, Hammer Hill Park. I promised myself I would do them all on the way back. After a while Fung Tak Road becomes Hammer Hill Road, follow this. It will change again to Po Kong Village Road. Eventually you will reach Fu Shan Bus Station. It sounds long, but to get there from the MTR only takes around 15 minutes.

Hammer Hill Road becomes Po Kong Village Road.

Just past the bus station you will see a barrier across a road on your right. Go round this barrier and walk downhill towards the stream.

This is the barrier you go round.

Follow the stream and where the road splits, go left.

The water level in the stream is low at the moment.

After a short walk, you will reach a cemetery, go left and walk through it. This is Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery. I'm one of those weird people who actually like cemeteries and this one is old and peaceful, so I enjoyed passing through it.

Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery.

Towards the end of the cemetery you will see a tree hanging precariously across the path, walk under this.

Tree looming over the path.

Selfie with tree.

Not far after this there is a path down to the stream. This is not the way you want to go, though I investigated this way on the way back and found it had some nice little bridges.

Bridges over stream.

I was starting to really enjoy the lush jungle vegetation all around me and the fact that earlier manmade structures: buildings, stairs, walls, paths were being reclaimed by the jungle. The whole area felt a bit like exploring the temples of Angkor Wat, minus the temples, if that makes sense. Overall I think the jungly nature of the surroundings were the highlight of the walk.

It's a jungle out there.

Pathway through the rocks.

Fallen logs and broad leaved plants.

Tree roots overwhelm a wall.

Stairway to nowhere.

Stay on the path or the jungle will get you.

Beautiful Leaves.

Beautiful Trees.

Dense Vegetation.

Are you staying on that path?

Gorgeous flower near the path.

It takes around twenty-five minutes from the barrier at the start of the walk to a little bridge where you will find the hollow tree. This is a weird attraction that someone somewhere decided to step inside, get their photo taken and post it on Instagram. They started a trend. On some days I believe there are long queues. There were only two people there when I arrived. I got them to photograph me. It was a bit of a disaster. I forgot to put my bags down before climbing in and I've put on so much weight since middle age and COVID both hit me at the same time. I think I was too fat for the hollow tree, but I got the picture anyway.

Bridge with hollow tree on its far side.

This is where you climb in.

This is where you stick your head out.

This is the result if you don't quite fit.

Not far past hollow tree is Shark Rock. There was a serious photo session going on when I arrived involving numerous people and a dog. I'm always way too impatient to wait, so I just photographed the people doing the photo session and got them to photograph me. If I hadn't, I might still be there queueing even now.

Shark Rock is supposed to be shaped like a great white shark leaping out of the water. People have added pebbles for the teeth to enhance the effect. My friend Catherine thought it looked like a frog. (My friend Jason thought Rhino Rock looked like an alien.)

Close up of Shark Rock.

Shark Rock with people and pet dog.

Lots of people at Shark Rock.

Posing with Shark Rock.

It's possible to continue the walk to the top of Hammer Hill and onto Jat's Incline, but I wasn't sure of the way and it was hoooot, so I just came back.

I passed a very attractive looking church building on the way back. This is the Abounding Grace Baptist Church.

The Abounding Grace Baptist Church.

Then I entered Hammer Hill Gardens. There was a magnificent brightly coloured bougainvillea bush here and several pretty irises. I managed to photo a little bird that was hopping around on the grass.

Entrance sign for Hammer Hill Park.

Bougainvillea bush.

Iris.

Bird in Hammer Hill Park. I think it is an oriental magpie robin.

Bird in Hammer Hill Park.

The Chi Lin Nunnery is just past Hammer Hill Park. I have been here once before, but it's lovely so I was happy to visit again. The Chi Lin Nunnery was founded as a retreat for Buddhist nuns in 1934. The nunnery building is made of cypress wood and no nails were used in its construction.

Chi Lin Nunnery.

Selfie in Chi Lin Nunnery.

Doorway Chi Lin Nunnery.

In front of the nunnery there is a lovely garden filled with ponds and bonsai trees. My favourite thing here was the magnificent waterlilies which filled the ponds. I think it's safe to say I got carried away photographing them.

Bonsai Chi Lin Nunnery.

Pond and water spouts Chi Lin Nunnery.

Close up of water spout.

Pond Chi Lin Nunnery.

White Waterlilies.

Yellow Waterlilies.

Pink Waterlilies

Pink Waterlily.

Pink Waterlilies.

Purple Waterlily.

Beautiful Waterlily.

Waterlilies on stripy lily pads.

This flower looks so fragile. Apparently it's Nymphoides indica or Water Snowflake. How lovely!

This flower looks so fragile.

Next I wandered into Nan Lian Gardens which are attached to the nunnery via a bridge. These were opened to the public in 2006. They are built in Tang Dynasty style and occupy an area of about 3.5 hectares. The gardens have ponds, the pavilion of absolute perfection, tearooms, a vegetarian restaurant, a watermill, museums and lots of beautiful rocks and plants.

Bridge connecting Nunnery and Gardens.

Bonsai on bridge connecting Nunnery and Gardens.

Museum and Bonsai.

The pavilion of absolute perfection

Temple like building.

Bird statue on roof of temple like building.

Artificial waterfall

Waterwheel.

Beautiful leafy plants.

Rock Garden.

Rock lined path.

I loved these beautiful rocks.

Sun dial.

Sparrow Nan Liang Gardens.

Chinese wisteria.

Brightly coloured koi fish.

From the gardens I could see the rainbow coloured Choi Hung Estate. People like to photograph themselves with the basketball court here.

After enjoying the gardens for a while I wandered back to the MTR. I had a quick look at Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall on the way. Then I travelled back home.

Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall.

I loved this painting near the lifts.

Posted by irenevt 15:18 Archived in Hong Kong Comments (6)

Done with Lions, moving on to Rhinos.

Hiking to Rhino Rock in Stanley.

19.04.2022 - 12.04.2022

Rhino Rock.

About a year ago, I set out to hike to Rhino Rock. I took a bus directly to Stanley and it was so hot, I abandoned the hike and just wandered around Stanley instead. This failed hike actually marked the end of my hiking season. I didn't do another one until about October.

Today, I set out again to walk to Rhino Rock. This time I took bus 14 to the very start of the hike. It was a really, really hot day and I felt tempted to abandon the walk again, but I decided to keep going.

To get to the Rhino Rock Trailhead, I took bus 14 from exit A, Sai Wan Ho Station and stayed on to the last stop. The last stop is Stanley Fort which is now a People's Liberation Army of China Barracks.

View over Stanley Fort from the Rhino Rock Trail.

Stanley Fort was originally built in 1841, as a British Army Barracks with accommodation for both soldiers and officers. These barracks are quite large occupying around 128 hectares. Of course, it is not possible to go inside nowadays, but I could hear the soldiers exercising as I climbed the hill.

The Rhino Rock Hike leads to a large rock which sticks out over Stanley Bay and has weathered beautifully until it resembles the shape of a rhinoceros' head. The hike starts on the left hand side if you are facing the barracks. There is a green gate at the entrance. I believe this is sometimes open, but when I went it was locked. I joined everyone else in manoeuvring myself around it. Past the gate there are some very worn down stairs. The climb up this hill is relatively short, around ten minutes, but it is very steep and quite tiring.

Steep path up.

At the end of the stairs, there is a forest path leading to a trigonometrical marker. To the right there is a path through the bushes. The path is marked with ribbons to help hikers find it as it is not signposted. In fact this is a hike where the ribbons are a Godsend or it would be very difficult to find the way to the rock.

Forest Path.

Trigonometrical marker.

Selfie with trigonometrical marker.

Trail marked with ribbons.

The path begins with a walk through tall sharp shrubbery. When you emerge from this, there is a very slippy, loose sand slope. It's necessary to go slowly here to avoid falling. There are lovely views over Stanley Bay from here. I did notice some discolouration in the water and wondered if it was red tide which is caused by an overgrowth of toxic red dinoflagellates algae. We once went swimming at Deep Water Bay and swam into red tide. It was horrible, really hard to scrub it all off.

Path through the bushes.

View of the bay and fort.

View over the bay. I wonder if the reddish stuff in the water is red tide.

View over the bay.

Selfie with bay.

Next there is a steeper and even slippier slope and ropes are provided to help you go down without falling. Again I believe hikers set up the ropes to help other hikers, just like they do with the ribbons.

Slope down with rope.

On the slippery slope.

When you reach the bottom of that slope, you are off through the shrubbery again. This path is also pretty tall and a bit prickly. You should cover your arms and legs to avoid getting scratched. My legs were covered, but my arms weren't and I have the scratch marks to prove it.

Path through the shrubbery.

After this shrubbery, there is another oddly shaped rock. I don't think it has a name. I thought it looked a bit like an elephant waving its trunk in the air. It's quite difficult to get down to. This area is very slippy. I did not go all the way down.

The unnamed rock on the way down. It looks a bit like an elephant.

Unnamed rock.

The next part of the path involves making your way through some very large boulders. It's necessary to go slow, so queues form here if many people are going at the same time. It's also very difficult to pass people going the other way. There are more attractive and interesting rock formations around this area.

Queueing to climb down to Rhino Rock, Hong Kong.

In between the rocks.

View from between the rocks.

View from the slopes.

Fellow hiker on the rocks.

Rock Shapes.

At one point the way between the boulders is really narrow and you can only proceed in single file. I was glad I did not come on a Sunday. That would be hell on Earth, but it was great to have some people, as I could simply follow them without getting lost. I was beginning to feel this was more of an assault course than a hike.

Squeezing through the narrow path and still following the ribbons.

Narrow Path.

Narrow path between the rocks.

Looking back at the area with the narrow rocky trail.

Eventually I reached the Rhino Rock. Chinese people love to see different shapes in rocks and there are many named rocks here, such as: Lion Rock, Amah Rock, Shark Rock, Piglet Rock, Star Rock. Some look more like the animal or thing they are named after than others. Rhino Rock actually really does look like a rhino. There was a small boy behind me who made me laugh by asking his auntie very loudly: "Is that a real rhino?"

Rhino Rock.

Rhino Rock closer up.

Rhino Rock with person for scale.

Viewed from lower down, it is not rhino like at all.

People taking a rest near the rock.

I've seen photos of people climbing up and standing on the rhino's nose. I had no plans for doing this, partly because I'm not completely mad and partly because I have a bit of a balance problem, as I have something wrong with my ears. Actually, while I was there, noone climbed up onto the rhino. I think this trail is considered too dangerous and that the bit it was possible to climb up, I think it was a tree behind the rock, has been taken away. There were a group of Filipinas in front of me on the walk who had even brought their own step ladder with them, presumably so they could climb up, but I never saw them on the rock. Perhaps it wasn't long enough!!! Or perhaps they were trying to attach it and I had left before they succeeded.

There were lots of people taking turns at posing for photos. I took some shots with and without people in them and some selfies. Pre the big COVID outbreak here I used to ask people to take my photo. Now I feel nervous to do so in case they think: 'I'm not touching your phone you may have COVID', not that anyone has ever said that to me. This is probably me just me being paranoid, but today a lovely lady offered to take my photo, so I got some nice shots of me with the rhino.

Me with Rhino Rock.

Selfie with Rhino Rock.

I only went the wrong way once on the climb back up the hill which is quite good for me. There was a number 14 bus in when I arrived back at the stop so I leapt on. I had considered doing two hikes today. The other in nearby Chung Hom Kok, but although the Rhino Hike was short and didn't take up much time, it was just too hot to do a second walk.

View away from the sea.

View from the cliff.

As it was still early, I decided I would do a detour to Jordan on the way back. That way I got to cool down on transport first. Plus in a built up area, it's always possible to nip inside a shop or somewhere to cool down in the air-conditioning.

The number 14 bus route is very scenic. I took a couple of pictures as the bus crossed over Tai Tam Tuk Dam. I saw the Red Hill houses I kept photographing on section 7 of the Hong Kong Trail close up. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side for taking photos of these. My goodness those houses are colourful! I also saw the shopping centre that I mistook for a temple from a distance. Close up it looks very like a shopping centre.

Tai Tam Tuk from the bus.

Colourful building next to Tai Tam Tuk Dam.

When I got to Jordan, I took exit E, probably not the most sensible exit, as it brought me out into a shopping centre. It took me a while to find my way to street level. I eventually exited onto Nathan Road and turned left. Then I turned left on Austin Road and continued on to Chatham Road South where I again went left. I passed a beautiful school in an old colonial building. This is St. Mary's Canossian College, a Catholic girls secondary school, founded in 1900. It originally catered to the Portuguese Community of Hong Kong. Opposite the school, there was another former British Barracks, now frequented by the PLA. This one was Gun Club Hill Barracks. It dates from around the beginning of the twentieth century. There were canons outside its entrance.

St. Mary's Canossian College side view.

St. Mary's Canossian College.

Canon outside Gun Club Hill Barracks

Gun Club Hill Barracks.

I was heading for the Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower. This stunning building was designed by Zaha Hadid. I loved the Riverside Museum of Transport in Glasgow which she designed and I only just realised she had designed a building here, too. Innovation Tower is on the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Appropriately it is home to their school of architecture. The security guards would not let me on the campus due to COVID, though I did try and persuade them to let me in. I could only photograph the building through a fence and across a motorway, but it was still beautiful. This building was completed in 2014, so it has taken me a while to notice it exists!!!

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed across a pool.

Motorway and bridge linking two campuses of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed from front.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Innovation Tower viewed from side across a motorway.

On my walk back to the MTR I took a different route and ended up passing Kings Park which I think I've failed to find twice, but this time wasn't looking for. Actually I think I haven't found it before because it's not really a park anymore. It has lots of sports related buildings built on it. This time I passed the hockey ground.

King's Park Hockey Grounds.

Club for Chinese Civil Servants.

Finally, I took an mtr back home from Jordan.

Posted by irenevt 02:09 Archived in Hong Kong Comments (9)

Lions and Amahs.

Climbing up Lion Rock.

07.04.2022 - 07.04.2022

View while climbing up the Lion's Head

Yesterday, I climbed up Hong Kong's famous Lion Rock for the first time. There are many interestingly shaped rock formations in Hong Kong, but Lion Rock is the best known one. It looms over Kowloon and parts of the New Territories and is said to embody the spirit of the Hong Kong people.

Lion Rock viewed from Diamond Hill on a different day.

There are different approaches to climbing Lion Rock. The most popular route is to start in Wong Tai Sin, but I decided to start from Tai Wai, because I wanted to climb up via Amah Rock.

To get to Tai Wai, I travelled on the East Rail. I had a very good transport day. I got a bus instantly when I left home which was amazing, as the bus and ferry service here have been slashed recently due to COVID. I got my first and second MTR trains instantly and only had to wait for five minutes for the East Rail, so I got to Tai Wai in record time.

I thought it was going to be a smooth day, but when I got to Tai Wai, things started to go wrong. The directions I had found online for getting to the start of my walk were wrong and I ended up going the wrong way and wandering all over Tai Wai. I used to live not far from Tai Wai, but it has changed a lot, and I got hopelessly lost. Trying to make the most of it, I took some pictures of Old Tai Wai Village which is surrounded by high rise buildings, but still has some character.

Tai Wai Old Village.

Fancy Doorways.

Earth god shrine.

Not sure what is being dried here. A Chinese friend tells me it's probably some kind of herb for use in Chinese medicine..

Game painted onto the riverbed.

After a while, I was getting fed up and even returned to the station ready to leave. I thought since I have come all this way, I'll give it one more chance, so I walked all the way round the station to see if I could find the correct road to start on and, when I did this, I saw a pink tourist sign saying Hung Mui Kuk . That was the name of the road I wanted, so I followed that. I had to go up an escalator and onto an overpass. I walked round the overpass till I saw the correct road and took the stairs down to it. The road went past houses, up a slope, past a village and led to stairs up to a motorway. At that point I had to cross to a bus-stop. It was a very dangerous place to cross the road and I narrowly avoided being hit by a huge lorry that appeared out of nowhere. From the bus stop I had to cross another busy road, walk through a tunnel and climb the stairs on the other side. Finally, I made it to Hung Mui Kuk Barbeque site and the start of the trail. It had been a fairly horrible journey to get here to be honest, I was already really tired out from all the faffing about I'd gone through.

The barbecue site is quite pretty and there are toilets and drinks machines here. I took a short rest at a picnic table in the shade to recover, then started climbing up the stairs. There are several paths here, but basically from the barbecue site, keep to the trail on the left. I eventually reached a road where I went left and crossed a catch water. At this point the path splits. On the left there's a longer gentle path up towards the start of the Lion Rock climb and on the right there's a shorter and steeper way up that goes via Amah Rock. The paths meet up later on. I choose the hard path via Amah Rock as I really wanted to see this close up.

Sign for Amah Rock at Hung Mui Kuk Barbeque Site.

Hung Mui Kuk Barbeque Site.

Stairs up through the barbeque site.

Stairs at the barbeque site.

Cross the bridge over the catch water.

Choose your route.

The climb up to Amah Rock involved steep stairs, steep stairs and more steep stairs, but at least it only took about half an hour to get there. It was getting very hot by this time and not much of this path was in the shade.

Cross the stream on the way to Amah Rock.

Walks in Hong Kong involve lots of stairs.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs.

Amah Rock is actually a beautiful structure. It looks like a woman holding a baby. You can view it in two ways as if the baby is being carried on the woman's back, or as if she is holding the baby in front of her in her outstretched arms. I find it easier to see it the latter way.

Close up of Amah Rock.

There is an old Chinese legend attached to this rock. Once there was a young married couple who had just given birth to their first child. The husband was a fisherman, and shortly after the birth, he set out to sea. His wife waited anxiously for his return, but his boat never reappeared. Worried about him, the wife got into the habit of climbing a mountain near their home every day. She would stand there for hours, watching for any sign of her husband's boat. What the wife did not know was that out at sea there had been a terrible storm and her husband had drowned. After a while, the goddess of the sea, Tin Hau, felt so sorry for the heartbroken young wife that she decided to turn her and her young child into stone so that their spirits could reunite with the spirit of the dead husband.

From the rock there are good views over Sha Tin. There were quite a lot of people sitting in this area or posing for photos with the rock and views.

Views over Sha Tin from Amah Rock.

After looking at the rock, I exited through the gate and continued on the path I had been walking on. I kept looking back to see if I could get a good view of the rock. At one point I could get a good shot using my camera zoom. After a while, there was a break in the trees and from here I could look back at a beautiful view of Amah Rock with the whole of Sha Tin spread out behind her. I loved this view and spent quite some time standing here enjoying it.

Always good to find a bit of flat path.

Looking back at Amah Rock.

Amah Rock with Sha Tin behind her.

I was getting more and more tired and was in two minds whether to plough on to Lion Rock or just visit Amah Rock and go home. I thought I would at least continue to the point where the two paths met up. That turned out to be quite a long way and by the time I got there I had decided I might as well keep going.

Eventually, I reached Kowloon Pass. Here there is a covered pavilion where I could sit in the shade for a while. This Pavilion used to be called Lion Rock Pavilion, but after the handover, its name was changed to the Reunification Pavilion. There were good views over Kowloon from here. The pavilion is located at the intersection of several paths. From here you can walk up Beacon Hill or you can walk up Lion Rock, or you can walk down to Wang Tau Hom.

Views over Kowloon and Hong Kong Island from The Reunification Pavilion.

There are several military remains around the pavilion. These are markers which indicate the distance to various military installations. These were used by the British army in the early days of Hong Kong.

Military Marker.

Reunification Pavilion.

The path to Beacon Hill.

Path to Wang Tau Hom.

Sign for Lion Rock.

Shelter on the walk up to Lion's Rock.

Stairs up to Lion Rock.

Path up to Lion Rock.

I decided that I had come so far, I might as well keep going to the top of Lion Rock. The distance did not sound too far, but the path is really really steep and exhausting. At some points you need to use your hands to help you climb. I had heard that there are many monkeys in this area, but I did not see any.

Eventually, after expending lots of energy, losing gallons of sweat and feeling like giving up many, many times, I finally made it to the top of Lion Rock. I had arrived at the Lion's head end. I climbed up the head a bit, but this isn't easy and I soon decided to come back down from there.

Lion Rock is four hundred and ninety-five metres high. When you look towards this rock from a distance, it looks like a crouching lion keeping watch over Hong Kong.

The views from the top of Lion Rock are amazing. They make it well worth the strenuous climb. You can see across Kowloon in one direction and over the New Territories in the other. The path from the head wanders down, then back up, to the lion's middle, then down and back up again, to the lion's tail. The walk from head to tail is along a ridge with drops on each side, so you have to be quite careful. There are warning signs everywhere about how dangerous it is near the edges. The day before my walk, someone was climbing here using ropes and fell. They were very badly injured.

As you can probably tell, I got carried away with the views and took too many photos. but I feel I earned this right after my climb.

View from the top across bright red flowers.

View from the lion's middle .

View from the top with flowers.

Beautiful view from the top.

View from the middle

Views across vegetation.

Wide views from the top.

Posing at the top.

View across bushes.

View from the top.

View from lion's head.

Looking at the Lion's Head.

Another look back at the lion's head.

Sign at the top of Lion Rock.

Lots of danger signs on the top of Lion Rock.

Me on top of Lion Rock.

When I had looked at the views for a while, I realised I had to get out of the sun. I was getting quite badly burnt. I walked down from the tail, following signs for Sha Tin Pass Estate. The constant steps were very jarring on the knees. Every so often there were lovely views. At one point the walk takes you right underneath a giant pylon. It feels strange looking up at this.

Inside a pylon.

Eventually after what felt like forever going down non-stop stairs, I ended up on the very welcome smooth surface of Sha Tin Pass Road. What a relief to my knees that was! I walked down to the colourful Fat Jong Taoist Temple. This is located just above Wong Tai Sin. Apparently it's beautiful inside, but of course it is currently closed due to covid, so unfortunately I could not go in. From here I took a steep downhill walk to Wong Tai Sin MTR. I arrived at the entrance right next to the famous Wong Tai Sin Sik Sik Temple. Last time I went here it was being renovated. I wondered if it was finished, but, of course, with all religious buildings currently closed, it didn't make a big difference to me. I got on the MTR then went home.

The stairs down to Sha Tin Pass Estate were lined with flowers.