Tag: #hiking

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Korean pizzas

experiencetoday

Hiking in Hong Kong always ends with a happy meal with friends or hikers. It can also be a fun barbecue time in a country park as many hiking tracks are close to the city. 

I brought my buddies to join a few visually impaired friendly people for an easy hike today. 

The track is home to monkeys, starting at the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir bus stop. Most of the track is flat, wide cement roads, so non-trained volunteers can take visually impaired individuals along the track. 

Then we passed through the Golden Hill Country Park by the Kowloon Reservoir, and ended up at the BBQ site at Shing Mun Reservoir. We’re so excited to find the sizzling BBQ smell was back after the public BBQ sites were closed for almost 3 years. 

Of course, hiking is not complete without great food, and today, we sat down together at a long table, trying Korean pizzas and fried chicken. Don’t argue with us that Asian pizzas are not authentic or ruin Italian traditions. 

Asians are creative and embrace diverse food cultures. We are not satisfied with plain pasta without meat or vegetable ingredients. A pizza with just mozzarella and herbs looked sad to us, so we tried different ways to make our pizzas yummy.  

I first tried frozen Korean pizzas 5 years ago. They do not have many ingredients because of competitive pricing, so I add chopped tomatoes and beef or cold cuts on top of my meal. 

Korean pizzas, in general, are crispy with a thin crust and usually well decorated with tomatoes, meats, seafood, or even kimchi toppings. If you want extra cheese, order a thick crust filled with cheese. The pizza we ordered at Pizza Maru today looks like a work of art, making our lunch gathering more fun and pleasant. 

The chicken comes in so many flavours. The honey garlic ones and beef tasty sauce ones taste fantastic. The meal was definitely a happy ending for everyone who hiked together today.

English articles

Tao Fong Shan

experiencetoday

There is a small path close to Sha Tin subway station leading up to the hiking track to Tao Fong Shan. Starting with narrow steps in a village, my brother and I were already surrounded by trees overlooking the city and the railway.

This track is suitable for a novice hiker as all the steps are cemented.

After 20 minutes’ walk, there was a roundabout and a sign for Tao Fong Shan Road. On our left were a few residential building blocks that look upper middle class. Despite being a weekday, we saw a few hikers. We soon reached a group of low white houses belonging to Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre. More and more worshippers arrived by chartered transport.

Situated in the high mountains, the Christian Centre offers a diverse range of workshops and spiritual activities.

The temple is in Chinese architectural style with Christian symbols. The labyrinth is constructed in a corner with a fun design. It is ideal for taking group photos or spending a solo moment in this tranquil environment.

A very large cross is located at the far end among these white houses, standing tall on top of a bare mountain, exposed in a wide space. Backlights will be switched on to ensure that people from the city can see the cross from a distance at night time.

For Christian believers, it surely gives them spiritual support when spending time at home during COVID. For non-believers, they won’t feel that isolated seeing some lights on the mountains.

Tao Fong Shan is also accessible from Shing Mun Reservoir or Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery where it takes 2 to 3 hours to complete.

Our trip took 1 and a half hours, and was refreshing in the morning before heading to lunch.

white bark trees
English articles

Reservoir hiking in Hong Kong

experiencetoday

Located in the New Territories and surrounded by beautiful nature and scenery, Shing Mun Reservoir has numerous trails that are suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. 

A circular route around the reservoir requires about 1.5 – 2 hours to complete. However, it takes longer to hike along the reservoir, although people with basic fitness levels can manage it. My friends and I spent 4 hours completing the circular route. Half of it was pavement, half of it was a hiking trail. Many trails are under the shade of trees, suitable for hiking in sunny weather, but the reservoir views are mostly hidden by tall trees and branches. 

Hikers usually take the minibus 82 from Tsuen Wan to the starting point. Getting off any buses passing through Lei Muk Shue is another option as getting up to the starting point takes only around 20 minutes only. I walked along the road to the reservoir with an old lady who made it all the way from Shek Yam. She walks up to the reservoir almost every day and is a regular hiker to the reservoir. 

My friends and I started walking up the stairs from the left. We passed through Pineapple Dam, then the entrance to the Butterfly Garden Nature Trail after 20 minutes, followed by the Waterside paperbarks. The distinctive papery barks from the tall trees on the sides offer a picturesque setting for photo-taking. They are not particularly spectacular on a cloudy day but make the path cool and pleasant to walk along. 

After around 1.5 hours, we reached the Tai Shing stream surrounded by lush forests. We then turned to the shaded hiking path which seemed endless. After another 2.5 hours, we reached the Gorge Dam of Shing Mun Reservoir. This tallest dam is 84m tall and was built by the British Empire. A beautiful spot to take a selfie. 

As we walked towards Lei Muk Shue, we added another 30 minutes to our trip. The bus stop provides a few more bus options than the starting point of the reservoir. By the time we arrived at Tsuen Wan, we were starving and we only wanted to sit down and eat. 

Try the inexpensive curry rice at Bentoya on the ground floor of The Mills which is now a shopping complex revitalized from a textile factory in Tsuen Wan. The Taiwanese eatery Cha Fan at 8 ½ in Tsuen Wan has a variety of bubble teas and fruit teas that instantly quench our thirst and satisfy our palate.

Check out more pictures in our walk