Yuen Long

For history, culture, sightseeing, food

Lest you think Hong Kong is all glinty skyscrapers and luxury malls, the Ping Shan Heritage Trail shows an altogether different side to the territory. This trail, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, weaves about 1.6 kilometres through the low-rise residential neighbourhoods of Hang Mei Tsuen, Hang Tau Tsuen and Sheung Cheung Wai and highlights the importance of the district to the city’s history.

It’s a fascinating amble featuring a series of well-preserved ancestral halls, temples and courtyards built by the Tang clan, who were thought to have settled here in the 12th century. Longtime Yuen Long resident, Ms Tang, says of the heritage attractions: “I think it helps people look back and understand the old-time village culture, the ancient architecture and traditions of worship in Hong Kong, and creates a sense of nostalgia.”

Most visitors to Ping Shan will arrive by MTR and hop off at MTR Tin Shui Wai Station; first stop is the nearby Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda, a simple, elegant structure built during the Ming dynasty, and the only one of its kind in Hong Kong. From here, wend your way through the village for more historic, grey-brick buildings with distinctive sweeping tiled roofs and ceramic figurines.

You will also meander past Kun Ting and Yan Tun Kong Study Halls , the impressive 700-year-old Tang Ancestral Hall and 500-year-old Yu Kiu Ancestral Hall , temples, courtyards and the village well. In Ping Shan, modern, everyday life flourishes alongside the traditional; boxy apartment blocks are tightly packed in next to historical monuments, while children whizz past their grandparents’ well-tended gardens on bicycles.

Eventually you’ll wind up at the commanding colonial-era white building perched on a hill above the village — this former police headquarters is now the Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre. As well as providing a refreshing blast of aircon on a hot day, a small but insightful exhibition outlines the history of the clan (one of the original five in Hong Kong) and Ping Shan’s development. Outside, you can admire terrific panoramas of the surrounding hills, burial grounds, and — when it’s clear — even the gleaming towers of Central in the distance.

By now you’ll be peckish. Thankfully the popular Mrs Tang Cafe is perfectly positioned for a pitstop. Replenished, it’s a short stroll back to the Tin Shui Wai station. On your way, pause at the Ping Shan Tin Shui Wai Library (you can’t miss it, it’s the tallest building this side of the station) and gaze up at its serene, striking, modern-meets-feng shui design that reflects the neighbourhood’s heritage. From Tin Shui Wai, it’s two stops to your next destination, Yuen Long.

On the Hong Kong ‘Monopoly’ board, Yuen Long was once one of the cheapest locations. While this may no longer be true, the area still offers more affordable, spacious housing than most other parts of the city. Unpolished and low-key, the district is defined by its light railway, dai pai dongs, laidback atmosphere, and more homegrown stores than global retail chains.

Leaving MTR Yuen Long Station, it’s a five-minute shuffle to Yau San Street, a winding road lined with duck and wonton noodle restaurants, ramen stalls and traditional bakeries. Mr Wong, who works at popular Hang Heung Cake Shop, says: “I have lived here all my life, and travel to work by light railway from Tin Shui Wai. For me, the food in this area is delicious — there are many things to try on these two streets (Yau San Street and Yau Tsoi Street).

Follow the road round, past the ‘town square’ and you will come to Tung Yick Market, much of which is still on the street. If you love the jostle of a Hong Kong market, you’ll enjoy exploring these open-air stalls selling fresh meat, rice and seasonal fruit and vegetables, being scrupulously picked over by elderly ladies.

On Tai Tong Road, you’ll find the charming Old Fung Tea House, a tiny vintage-feel cubby complete with 1950s tiled walls and floors, old-school signage and bare-bulb lighting. Fung’s is known for its steaming-fresh dim sum and free-pour Pu’er tea, served to a revolving clientele of school kids, elderly couples and workmen. Long queues form at peak hours and on holidays, but it’s open all day (until 11pm), so stage your visit to avoid popular meal times and you can cosy on up in a booth. The quirky interiors and people-watching are as good as the food.

For hikers, families, birders and nature lovers

Its white wings flap gracefully, its elegant crested neck extends forward, and its long black beak opens and shuts like tongs. This is the black-faced spoonbill, and it’s one of the 400 or so bird species that visit Mai Po Nature Reserve , part of a site that has been actively conserved under the international Ramsar Convention since 1995, and which sits on the border between the New Territories and the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

“The black-faced spoonbill is a rare winter visitor,” says Michael Lau, Director of Wetlands Conservation for WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund). The bird is considered endangered; global numbers are as low as 3,941 in 2017. Mai Po is the one of the main roosting sites for this species, and this 380-hectare wetland is vital to the bird’s survival.

Mai Po is made up mostly of gei wai, or traditional shrimp ponds, which were first established here by local villagers in the 1940s. The villagers transformed the area’s swamps into shallow ponds — unwittingly offering a feeding ground for migratory birds, some stopping at Mai Po in the winter, and others coming in the spring.

The gei wai are still operational, carefully managed by WWF, who use time-honoured techniques to harvest shrimp; techniques that are sustainable, and respectful of the reserve’s winged residents. WWF has been managing Mai Po since 1984, and it has been under Lau’s thoughtful supervision since 2016.

Access to Mai Po is restricted; visitors apply for a permit with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, or they can get on-site help at the Peter Scott Field Studies Centre. Mai Po does offer guided group tours, and this is the simplest way to gain access to the area. Book these through WWF Hong Kong’s website.

Getting to the area beyond the fence, however — the land between Hong Kong and mainland China — is harder. You can apply via WWF for a permit from the Hong Kong Police Force, but it’s a lengthy wait. WWF also offers guided tours to visit this lushly beautiful mangrove belt and see Deep Bay’s mudflats, which are populated by thousands of birds, including pied avocets, magpie robins, tufted ducks, grey herons and great egrets.

Mai Po’s neighbour is Hong Kong Wetland Park , in northern Tin Shui Wai. Like Mai Po, this 61-hectare site teems with wildlife, including the black-faced spoonbill. Thanks to the presence of freshwater marshes within its grounds, the park is also a popular haunt for amphibians such as the ornate pygmy frog, and the Asiatic painted frog, which bellows like a bull during mating season.

If you want to keep the kids occupied, head to the park’s 10,000-square-foot visitor centre, where themed exhibition galleries, a theatre and swamp-adventure indoor play area will keep them busy for hours.

Another attraction at Hong Kong Wetland Park is Pui Pui, Hong Kong’s celebrity crocodile. This croc was first discovered in Nam Sang Wai, east of Hong Kong Wetland Park. In Nam Sang Wai’s wetland area, you will find abandoned gei wai amid mangrove and reed swamps, as well as mudskippers, fiddler crabs and plenty of migratory birds.

Like Mai Po and the wetland park, Nam Sang Wai is on former swampland, so it’s flat — perfect for family-friendly walks.

If it’s adventure you’re after, Tai Lam Country Park is the place to go. Here, you’ll find 12 hiking and mountain biking trails of varying difficulty, including Sections 9 and 10 of the MacLehose Trail, the 100-kilometre track named after colonial Hong Kong’s longest-serving governor and avid hiker, Sir Murray MacLehose. We have MacLehose to thank for Hong Kong’s 24 country parks, and the preservation of the city’s extensive wildlife populations.

As Hong Kong’s second largest country park, Tai Lam is a particularly appealing choice for nature lovers. It’s home to peaks and valleys, forested mountains, jade-green reservoirs and multitude of bird and mammal species, including leopard cats and Chinese pangolins. And there are barbecue pits and campsites aplenty if you’re looking to make a day — or a night — of it.

At each of these sites, birdsong and the chirrup of insects are about the only noises you’ll hear: they’re a world away from the city’s bustling financial centre. It’s no wonder Yuen Long is a firm favourite with Hongkongers.

“People appreciate wildlife and countryside a lot more than they did three decades ago,” says WWF’s Lau. “Increasingly people live in crowded city environments. They want to come out, breathe the fresh air and look at the sky.”