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Photo credit: Tugo Cheng
Average hiking time: About 3.5 hours (About 7 hours round trip) | Distance: About 8 km | Difficulty: Difficult
For a day escaping the hustle and bustle of the city, Plover Cove Country Park has it all — from traditional walled villages to amazing coastal scenery, “fung shui” woods and the stunning geological features of the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark.
Your day starts in the village of Wu Kau Tang, dating back some 400 years, where you can see traditional Hakka houses with their tiled roofs and groves of bamboo — a material that was put to good use by the local community in the past and is still used extensively today in scaffolding.
Heading eastwards you pass through verdant valleys and join the cobbled Miu Sam Ancient Path that takes you towards the coast. At Sam A Wan there’s a chance to refuel and take in the serene views over Double Haven harbour — and perhaps catch a glimpse of crabs scurrying through the mangroves.
From Sam A Wan pier you take the path to Lai Chi Wo
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{{taRatingReviewTotal}} {{taRatingReviewText}} Address {{address}} Website {{website}} More info , which is home not only to one of the best-preserved Hakka villages in Hong Kong, but also to an abundance of wildlife. An estimated 163 plant species and 112 freshwater insect species, along with a huge variety of birds, butterflies and reptiles, inhabit the area including the endangered Yellow-Breasted Bunting songbird and the rare White Dragontail butterfly. Lai Chi Wo is also the place to find Hong Kong’s largest mangrove trees and one of the most impressive mangrove forests in the territory.
A look around the almost-deserted village brings its own rewards, with restorations of the Hip Tin Temple, Hok Shan Monastery and village walls helping to bring back some of its character and vitality. And don’t miss two of the village’s natural highlights — the famous ‘five finger’ camphor tree, which was saved by defiant villagers during the wartime occupation, and the century-old hollow maple tree.
Photo Credit: Hin Yeung
Stop 1: Wu Kau Tang & Miu Sam Ancient Trail
At over 400 years old, Wu Kau Tang Village hosts Hakka houses that have kept their characteristic tiled roofs. Located between fields, these houses have many bamboo species growing amongst and around them. Apart from natural protection, Hakka people use bamboo for construction and fuel, and to prevent soil erosion. Continue via Kau Kam Tso and Miu Sam Ancient Trail to Sam A Wan.
Photo Credit: Hin Yeung
Stop 2: Sam A Wan & Sam A Tsuen Pier
In Sam A Chung, a shade of red on the path surface indicates the presence of iron oxides in the underlying rocks. Sam A Wan features mangrove swamps where crabs and mudskippers can be easily seen. The Sam A Tsuen Pier is a great spot that overlooks the coastline of Double Haven.
See more…Sai Lau Kong
Photo Credit: Hin Yeung
Stop 3: Lai Chi Wo
Lai Chi Wo was once known for the village’s lychee trees. Unlike most other villages in Hong Kong, this one was settled in the 16th century by two separate families, and since then Lai Chi Wo has preserved the traditional Hakka village plan, where the individual buildings are arranged in a 9x3 grid. Also impressive is the feng shui wall at the entrance of the village and the feng shui woodland behind the houses, which is believed by generations of Hakka to have prevented natural disasters and garnered good fortune.
Refuel
Photo Credit: Hin Yeung
Stop 4: Hollow Maple and Five-Finger Camphor
Lai Chi Wo has a number of old and unusual trees that create a precious platform for natural history. The century-old hollow maple tree, the ‘king’ of its kind, has various holes especially in the central part of its trunk, but it lives on. The Five-Finger Camphor, which had one of its five branches cut away during the Second World War, is still a remarkable sight.
To the starting point:
- From MTR Tai Po Market Station take green minibus 20R to Wu Kau Tang.
From the end point:
- A ferry service runs between Lai Chi Wo and Ma Liu Shui on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (https://www.geopark.gov.hk/en_news.htm). Ferry time from Lai Chi Wo: 3:30 pm. The ferry takes about 90 minutes. The nearest MTR station from there is University Station, approximately 15 minutes away by foot. Enquiries: +852 2555 9269 (Best Sonic Ind. Ltd.).
- You can return from Lai Chi Wo via the way you came or via an alternate route (about 2 hours; approx. 4.5 km— shown as a dotted line on the map) to Wu Kau Tang Village, from which you can take green minibus 20R to MTR Tai Po Market Station, where other means of transport are available.
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