Shooting birds! Scaring the crabs out of their wetland holes!

In this humid time of spring, two townie friends of mine (Z and JJ) fancied a relaxing outing to stretch their stiff bodies after the lazy winter and maybe, if lucky, take some nice pictures of the rare, dying nature of HK. I suggested them the Tung Chung -Tai O hiking trail, but as your typical townie friends, they preferred something, in their words, “less hardcore” J So we took a stroll to the Tung Chung mangroves instead. And I never would have thought it would be so “full of wonders” to them.

we just stop at the mangrove for today's route.

It’s an easy route of, at most, an hour (we were taking it real slow) from the MTR station. But if you are ultra lazy, there are buses (37,38, S52, S64) at the MTR station that take you to Yat Tung Estate so you can join in halfway.

The way up to the pavilion was rather scenic: airport across the sea, cable cars moving overhead and the new town area on the other side. Definitely worth the walk.

While on the way down, there were a small battery ruin and a caged lime kiln dated to the Tang Dynasty. To my friends’ amusement, there were a lot of dragonflies and a few butterflies. Z: I saw a butterfly pretending to be a crunchy, fallen leaf!

Continue down the slope came Ma Wan Chung Village, a tiny, serene, half-emptied and biohazard-esque fishing village where you can grab some drinks and snacks (even Chinese bean tea cake!)

outlook of Ma Wan Chung Village
Z: I am glad to be fully prepared for zombie attack, thanks to Biohazards

After a few dingy old diners, the alleyway opened up and we found ourselves facing two bridges: One new and safe. Another made of scrap wood and old doors (!?) that looked like it may collapse any second. A black dog was chilling on the dodgy one, looking proud. I had an impression that it was daring us to attempt the doubtful bridge.

The Grim or the Loyal Guard?

Of course, we weren’t stupid enough to risk our lives (and precious cameras) crossing that old bridge. Just when we were half way on the safe cement bridge, a little egret flew over us and landed on the low tide fresh water stream under the bridges.

SHOOT!! We caused quite a scene “awwww-ing and “wow-ing” over every single move it made.

Knowing the mangrove must be near, my dear townie friends (finally) decided to speed through the village to Yat Tung Estate. It’s quite a special view to have new buildings and messy rural path separated by a never-ending wire fence.

JJ:It’s like we were in poor Eastern Germany looking at the other, fast-growing side of the Berlin Wall. (Well, indeed.)

I tried to identify the surrounding plants: bauhinia, hibiscus, morning glory, camellia…and whenever we saw fruiting papaya or banana trees, my Farmville-addicted friends would simply replied “Havest! or Rotten!”
1/3 of the path was covered with interesting plants.

Ten minutes into our “Intro to Common Plants in Hong Kong” walk, we finally saw Hau Wong Temple sitting solemnly on the right. In front of the temple, beyond another picnic-friendly grassland, was the mangroves! Since the tide was still low, we took our time and checked out the 245 year-old temple dedicated to a celebrated loyal officer in the Song Dynasty. Apart from the antique broze bell inside the monument, take a closer look at the mini figures on the roof. The 7th in line is in western suit! Talk about east meets west! You may also like to join the 5-day (and night!) birthday celebration of Hau Wong from16-20 August (Chinese calendar)

Hau Wong Temple. We were gutted to find out all free Chinese new year lucky charms were given away.

Tung Chung Mangrove: marks the end of Tung Chung stream and the beginning of the open sea.

OK! It’s time to shoot some birds!
Bang! Bang! Bang!




You may wanna try these…
1. collect clams. Not sure if they taste good. But we saw quite a few families doing that.
2. pretend to be giants among the short mangrove “forrest” and take perspective illusion pictures.

miniature lake and forrest!

3. stand VERY still until the cowardly fiddler crabs think you are inanimate and come out of their holes, business as usual. Then move suddenly. They will freak out and rush back in their crab holes frantically. The little game is fun to watch and never gets boring. But try to restrain yourself from disturbing their lives too much :P

4.catch a jumping fish


5. if you are lucky like us, you may witness an epic staredown between a hawk and an egret. Relax. They eat fish.


6. After the erosive actions in river, most boulders there are white, round and of various size. Pile them up and made a rockman.

7. This is a big tree, uprooted and washed down to the coast. I don’t know why but everyone walks all the way out just to have a closer look.

Hope that everyone can enjoy the mangrove's fun like us!