Hong Kong's Natural Side🌍
Hong Kong is known as Asia's World City, the appropriate words to describe it is: busy, expensive and developed. Even though, not a lot of people knew that Hong Kong also have a green side: quiet, natural, fresh. There are many hiking areas in Hong Kong for people to enjoy the beautiful views that Hong Kong own. We're going to be taking a look at the New territories area, we're not going to talk about Lion's Rock, we're going to talk about To Fung Shan.
To Fung Shan🍃
There are two different routes in To Fung Shan. One is a longer one and one is a shorter one. The shorter one is a route along the To Fung Shan road, and the longer route is actually the MacLehose trail. To Fung Shan isn't just a hiking route though, it is also known for the christian centre located over there. The centre is found in 1930 by the Norwegian missionary, Karl Ludvig Reichelt. The christian centre is described as “ A remarkable Christian retreat centre… high in the hills behind Sha Tin.” If interested, the centre opens from 9:00am - 5:00pm. To Fung Shan can be translated into The Mountain of the Christ Wind. The mountain is quite easy to walk, so you can finish the hike in an hour and a bit more.
Mini Bus, MTR, Driving is the easiest way to get there. There are different ways to get there, you can get there through Sha Tin or Tai Wai. The route we took is from Tai Wai. If you decided to take the route from Tai Wai MTR station then there will be a 5-10 mins walk to get there. From the Sha Tin trail, it takes around 15-20 mins. From central, you can ride the MTR on the orange line to Nam Cheong and then change line to Hung Hom, then change line to Kowloon tong and lastly to Sha Tin / Tai Wai. Or you could change to the red line (Tsuen Wan) and ride to Prince Edwards, straight to Kowloon Tong then change to Sha Tin / Tai Wai.
What to do and see? 👀
As I have already mention about the Christian centre, you could definitely check it out. Also the most important thing is just to relax, and refresh your mind from the busy world and go on a little hike. Look at the amazing views Hong Kong has, enjoy and appreciate all the little parts of the natural side of hong kong. If you're a bit more challenging why not try the MacLeHose trail instead of the To Fung Shan road trail? Once you walked up enough you will then see a metal board which shows you two roads, one of them is labelled 'To Fung Shan' road and the other 'MacLeHose Trail'.
Flower Species💐
Common Daisies:
A Daisy flower is composed of white petals and a yellow center, although the flower can sometimes have a pink or rose colour. The daisy's leaves are edible and sometimes are used in salad. |
Common Vetch:
The scientific name is Vicia Sativat. It has the ability to fix nitrogen from the air due to a symbiotic relationship with bacteria housed in root nodules. As a result, common vetch is high in protein. |
Activities🏆
Fun games are a must for hiking or any outdoor activities, you don't want to be bored! So here are a few fun original games for you to try out:
Find a Rainbow🌈:
-find matching objects with the 7 colours of the rainbow.
-let's see who can successfully find all of the colours!
Natural celebrities🎨:
-using only natural objects, create an image of the celebrity given, try to make it as accurate and similar as possible!
Fashion Design🌻:
-have a little creative fashion design with your friends!
-using only natural objects, create a very unique outfit!
-let's see who is the best as designing!
Find a Rainbow🌈:
-find matching objects with the 7 colours of the rainbow.
-let's see who can successfully find all of the colours!
Natural celebrities🎨:
-using only natural objects, create an image of the celebrity given, try to make it as accurate and similar as possible!
Fashion Design🌻:
-have a little creative fashion design with your friends!
-using only natural objects, create a very unique outfit!
-let's see who is the best as designing!
Equipment💦
1.5L water - to stay hydrated
Raincoat - incase it rains
First Aid kit - incase of any injuries
Closed, running sport shoes
Raincoat - incase it rains
First Aid kit - incase of any injuries
Closed, running sport shoes
Risk Assessment🐝
Risk |
Hazard |
Emergency Action Plan |
Consequences |
Tripping on rocks |
Some bumpy, loose rocks on the road that you could trip over and hurt yourself |
Use clean water to rinse the wound then use a band-aid to protect it from getting infected |
The wound might get infected by germs, which will cause a lot of difficulties |
Bad weather, rain |
Rain will make the road slippery and you might slip and hurt yourself |
Check the weather forecast before going on the hike and bring a rain jacket. Find a shelter area if you didn't bring anything to block the rain |
You might get a flu because of the rain, you will get wet and your clothes might get dirty |