Hong Kong’s Top 10 : Areas of Natural Beauty

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  1. Cape D’Aguilar

    It
    may be only 7 miles (11 km) directly south of Hong Kong’s busy Central
    district, but Cape D’Aguilar feels like another world. The wild
    coastline has wave-lashed rock formations and a marine life so rich that
    researchers have discovered 20 species “new to science” in these
    waters.

  2. Hoi Ha Wan

    The
    long inlets and sheltered coves of this 260 hectare marine park in
    northern Sai Kung are made for snorkelling. Stony coral and reef fish
    galore.

  3. Mai Po Marsh

    Declared
    a Ramsar site (that is, a wetland of international importance) in 1995,
    Mai Po is one of China’s most important bird sanctuaries, with hundreds
    of resident and migratory species recorded, including many endangered
    ones. Other wildlife includes otters, civet cats, bats and numerous
    amphibians.

  4. Bride’s Pool

    The
    pool is a popular picnic spot. Weekends are best avoided, but visit
    midweek and, with luck, you will have this glorious, wooded course of
    rockpools and cascades all to yourself.

  5. Pat Sin Range

    Hong
    Kong’s countryside achieves a quiet grandeur among the empty valleys
    and sublime uplands of Pat Sin (“eight spirits”). Peaks range up to 639 m
    (2,095 ft), and the views are humbling.

  6. The Dragon’s Back

    This
    undulating ridge snakes down Hong Kong Island’s south-east corner, with
    plunging slopes, poetic sea views and (past Pottinger’s Gap) deep
    wooded valleys and beaches.

  7. Jacob’s Ladder

    Take
    these steep steps up the rock from Three Fathom’s Cove, and enter an
    expanse of remote uplands and boulder-strewn paths, leading, in the
    north, to Mount Hallowes. There are exquisite views of the Tolo Channel.

  8. Sha Lo Tung

    This
    hidden valley is probably the closest Hong Kong comes to stereotypical
    ideas of classical Chinese landscape, with its old paddy fields,
    deserted villages, flowing streams and ancient woods. Magical.

  9. Ma On Shan

    The
    plateaus and grassy slopes of the 702-m ((2,302-ft) high Ma On Shan
    (“Saddle Mountain”) allow wide-screen views of mountainous country,
    without the insidious intrusion of city skyline in the distance. The
    effect is truly majestic.

  10. Tai Long Wan

    On
    the Sai Kung Peninsula, survive the knuckle-whitening ascent of Sharp
    Peak (all loose rocks and narrow paths), and the land plunges down to
    your well-earned reward: the sparkling waves and white sand of Hong
    Kong’s finest beach, Tai Long Wan .




    Sharp Peak and Ham Tin beach, Tai Long Wan