This was our first trip back to Hong Kong for five years. A lot has happened there since 2018, so we were interested in seeing what had changed. Perhaps there was a bit more Mandarin and a bit less English being spoken, but as a visitor Hong Kong felt the same and we enjoyed being back there.
One thing that hadn’t changed, in contrast to the UK and New Zealand, was that cash is still used a lot in Hong Kong. Although the Octopus card, which is primarily for public transport, can be used to make lots of other small purchases, there are times when only those red $100 notes will do the trick. For example, adding money to said Octopus card, paying for taxis, and buying lunch in small restaurants on Lantau.
There was no real plan to our trip other than we were visiting some of our favourite outdoor spots and saving some energy for one epic walk. So this is a photo diary of our hikes, runs and a bike ride. Not included are photos of a day I spent rock climbing on Monkey Buttress at Braemar Hill, which I’ve mentioned as I recommend it as a climbing venue, not least because it is only 5 minutes walk from a bus stop!
Getting over the jet lag: Tai Po to Shing Mun Reservoir
Lillian spent the first three days at a conference so, on the first day of our visit, after travelling with her to the HK Science Park (near Tai Po in the New Territories), I ran back to Kowloon over Lead Mine Pass and Needle Hill. (The image for this post is the view from the Science Park.)
As I ran out of Tai Po I crossed this bridge with music playing on a small radio and these ladies practicing tai chi.
On the top of Needle Hill with the Shing Mun Reservoir, where I ended my run, and Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong, in the background.
Before catching a minibus back down to the city I snacked on a Hong Kong classic, egg and spam noodles, accompanied by curried fish balls.
Back home: Mui Wo to Discovery Bay
Lillian and I walked a similar route but in the opposite direction during our last visit. However starting in Mui Wo has the advantage that there are good views of Discovery Bay as you descend from the peak of Lo Fu Tau. Plus there are plenty of places in Discovery Bay to grab a cold drink while waiting for a ferry back to Central.
My family used to live in Hong Kong until I was 5 years old. In the 1990s I lived in ‘Disco Bay’ with my dad, until he retired and returned to the UK, and then by myself. So it’s always nice to go back and see what has changed.
Our journey to Mui Wo (Silvermine Bay) started with catching a ferry from Central. Kowloon and the Star Ferry are in the background.
Mui Wo still has winding narrow concrete paths linking together clusters of houses with a few unexpected sights. Lillian yelped with surprise when she peered through a window in a wall and saw this fellow.
Above Mui Wo. We joined the path to Tung Chung (where the airport is) and then the Lo Fu Tau Country Trail. There is a clear sign where this branches off the Mui Wo – Tung Chung path.
On the summit of Lo Fu Tau with a Hong Kong style sausage bun. These and Pocari Sweat sports drinks are our go to running / hiking snacks.
A hazy view of Discovery Bay. Most of the buildings on the left and middle of the picture were not constructed when I lived there.
A Hong Kong classic: Lion Rock
This is one our favourite hikes, not least because it is so easy to get to from the city.
The path over Lion Rock had been improved over the last few years which I think is a good thing if it encourages more people to walk up it. It is still steep towards the top.
On the summit. One of my few climbing claims to fame was that I made the first ascent of the face below where I am standing, ‘The Lion King’ (6c). Someone climbing it, along with some spectacular drone footage of Lion Rock, is here.
Considering that it was a Tuesday, there were a lot of walkers on the trail. It was encouraging to see so many local Hong Kongers amongst them. Hopefully means that support for Hong Kong’s extensive and beautiful national parks will remain strong.
Lillian on the summit. It was a perfect Hong Kong winters day. Sunny but not too humid.
Back on the bike: Mountain-biking on Lantau
As on our last visit to Hong Kong I rented a full-suspension MTB from the Friendly Bicycle Shop in Mui Wo. In Hong Kong you are only allowed to mountain-bike on certain designated trails, several of which are on Lantau. In addition to the Mui Wo ‘Mountain Bike Practice Ground’, the best one on Lantau is the Chi Ma Wan Peninsula. As I had explored this on our last trip I decided this time to see if there were any new bike park trails and check out the Pui O to Kau Ling Chung Trail, the only trail on Lantau I hadn’t previously ridden. I planned to return to Mui Wo by the Mui Wo to Pui O Trail.
My trusty steed, an Ibis full-sus MTB. I actually found some of the bike park trails stony and not that enjoyable to ride even on an enduro bike like this one.
After riding the bike park trails I descended to Pui O for lunch of char sui (barbecued pork) and fried egg on rice. Only payment in cash was accepted! I then set off in search of the Pui O to Kau Ling Chung Trail.
After Pui O I had difficulty locating the way up to the trail. This is the sign one should look for and follow.
Unfortunately the next section is a walking path and not rideable. It took about 15 minutes to hump my bike up seemingly endless rock steps. I realised that I had taken Lillian down this path on one of our first dates (in 1994!) when we went mountain-biking together on Lantau on some clunky borrowed bikes. I can’t believe now that she didn’t dump me.
The path climbs to a catchwater, which starts off as a small concrete channel…
… and within a few kilometres quickly grows. It turned out that the Pui O to Kau Ling Chung Trail was just on the concrete road beside the catchwater, and whilst being a pleasant car-free ride it is not mountain-biking. The catchment channel continues all the way round past the ridge in the background to eventually disgorge itself into the Shek Pik Reservoir.
After the Shep Pik Reservoir the trail continues along a quiet road (with some hills) and then to the end of another catchment channel. After turning at the end I dropped down to this beach, Dai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay). Although it has the same name as the beach I went to on my previous ride it’s a different beach, though also beautiful and secluded.
As I returned along the beach at Pui O the clouds cleared and Sunset Peak, the second highest mountain on Lantau, appeared towering above.
I crossed over to the other side of the Chi Ma Wan Peninsula and then picked up the Pui O to Mui Wo Trail at this point. I am often pleasantly surprised at how rural some parts of HK still are.
The Strava trace of my ride, which was 64km in total with 1120m of ascent.
Our Epic Day: Plover Cove Loop
We had been saving the legs for this walk which is not only spectacular but also remote. At about 18 kilometres with no water refill opportunities on the way, it’s worth being well prepared and in hot weather taking several litres of water. It was early December, which is the start of the cooler winter weather in Hong Kong, so although it was sunny it wasn’t too hot. Nevertheless we had to ration our water. We had about 3 litres between the two of us.
I had walked this loop just before I left Hong Kong in 1995 but until this trip had never managed to revisit it. In the last three decades some distance markers have been added and the trail given an official name, The Plover Cove Reservoir Country Trail. This anodyne name in no way captures what an amazing trail it is.
The official trail starts in Tai Mei Tuk, where I lived as a toddler, and finishes a kilometre or so from Brides Pool.
The first step is to catch minibus 20C from the bus station beside the Tai Po Market East Rail Line train station.
We started the walk by crossing the Plover Cove dam. The trail follows the mountains in the background around the reservoir. This photo is not a drone shot… Lillian was running below me on the road across the dam!
At a second smaller dam with some impressive sluice gates. The double-headed peak of Ma On Shan is in the background.
After the dam you bid farewell to tarmac and the trail becomes a walking path. This warning is at the top of a small hill a couple of kilometres from the dam.
It’s a beautiful walk though with a loose stony surface on some of the descents. Both the dams on the reservoir are visible in the background, with Tai Po in the distance.
The signs on the first half of the trail show the distance and time to Luk Wu Tung. The final section to reach this peaklet is a long and grueling series of concrete steps.
On the summit of Luk Wu Tung looking back down over the reservoir.
Another view of the reservoir showing the full route of the trail. It goes up the ridge of the left and down the one on the right.
One of the trail markers towards the end of the trail. The last 4-5km were the most rugged and it seemed to take longer and longer for each marker to appear. As they were every half a kilometre, ’05’ in the last two digits meant there was only 2.5km until the end. That took over 50 minutes! A fitting finale to a challenging walking trail.
Goodbye Hong Kong: Final blast up Lion Rock
On my final afternoon in HK, mindful of an upcoming over-night flight, I felt I needed a quick run to (hopefully) get myself tired enough to sleep on the plane.
As always it’s amazing how easily one can access the hills from Kowloon. I took the MTR to the start of the walk but had I caught taxis both ways it would have been two $60 (£6) 10 minute taxi rides to and from Mong Kok.
I started at the base of Shatin Pass Road, and opted for the direct route to the top up the ‘South-East Ridge’. Describing it this way makes it sound like a mountaineering route, which it is to a small degree as it includes a bit of scrambling.
The path starts behind the temple just where Shatin Pass Road leaves the city and is initially tricky to follow. However there are plenty of chalked arrows and bits of tape/cloth marking the way and as long as you make for the crest of the ridge you will eventually end up on the main path.
The ridge path leads to this point on the main Lion Rock trail, and as the signs suggest there are some rocks to climb over. Kowloon Peak is in the background. There are more pictures on the route in our first blog post on Hong Kong, from 2015!
It was about 4.30pm on Friday and there were even more walkers on the summit than on Tuesday. The views of Kowloon as the sun started to dip were really beautiful so perhaps that was why.
Looking back towards Lion Rock from near Beacon Hill.
I finished the walk at Monkey Hill, changed my sweat soaked t-shirt and jumped into a taxi home. Just as the taxi started to descend I passed Caldecott Road, where we lived after we left Tai Mei Tuk and until I was 5 years old.
Over the course of this trip I visited all the places where I used to live which added to the nostalgia of the visit. As my father passed away a few weeks before the trip and loved walking in the hills of Hong Kong, Lillian and I thought about him a lot on these excursions, which felt like a fitting way to remember the good times we’d had with him.
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