Advertorial: Fun, unlimited @ Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s city centre is a vibrant hub. But there is more to discover in places beyond the city centre. While you experience the exciting east-west fusion in Hong Kong Island, and fascinating culture of Kowloon, new treasures will surprise you as you lose yourself in the natural wonders of the sprawling hills, verdant woodland and golden beaches in numerous outlying islands.Your quest of Hong Kong’s myriad gems is ure to leave amazed and hooked!
For a great time, pack in a day of outdoor fun at Hong Kong’s picturesque island retreats as the calm sea breeze and sweet country air will help elevate your spirits as you ramble in nature’s delights. There are very few cities in the world that can match Hong Kong’s sheer natural beauty and diverse wildlife. With hundreds of large and small islands dotting the Hong Kong topography, glistening waterfalls, steep and wooded ravines only enhance its natural beauty. Add to that sandy bays, sheltered by rugged headlands lined with ancient trails, and there’s nothing more you could ask for. Wildlife sanctuaries are now complemented by the new Hong Kong Wetland Park.
Visitors can happily combine hiking and dining, and sightseeing and shopping, in one day in this uniquely compact city. The daytime outdoor excursions leave plenty of time to explore Hong Kong’s nightlife and shopping hubs.
Head for an all-new Lantau
If you arrive in Hong Kong by air, you would already have visited Lantau, as the city’s breathtakingly modern international airport stands on reclaimed land just offshore from the HKSAR’s biggest island. Most passengers stay only long enough to pick up their bags and then head across the Tsing Ma Bridge to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Yet it’s definitely worth setting aside the time for an unhurried return trip.
Re-crossing the Tsing Ma Bridge is not the only way to get to Lantau - most visitors catch a ferry from Central.
Disembarking at Mui Wo, you’ll find a relaxed haunt of those who appreciate the less frenetic island lifestyle, a hotel beside a sandy beach and, tucked away in the valley behind, a picturesque waterfall. Most visitors head straight for the famous Big Buddha on arrival. If you are more familiar with Hong Kong’s skyscrapers and urban hustle, this green and rural landscape is a truly unexpected surprise.
Some 15 minutes of ride along this picturesque coastal road brings you to Cheung Sha, home to Hong Kong’s longest stretch of sand, and a favourite on summer weekends for swimmers and sunbathers. You can also experience Tai O en-route, a fishing village with a character all of its own and a true air of remoteness, where many houses are perched on stilts above the water.
Located high in the hills near the centre of the island, Po Lin Monastery and the adjacent statue of the Buddha (or “Tian Tan” in Cantonese) are among the defining images of Hong Kong. The 26-metre high, 202-tonne Buddha is immense and lays claim to the title of “the world’s largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha”. From ground level, 260 steep steps take you to the figure’s base, where you can either wonder at its grandiose scale or admire the surrounding mountainous countryside. The monastery, under the watchful and unceasing gaze of the Buddha, is certainly worth exploring. Included in the price of admission is a vegetarian meal consisting of rice, mushrooms, seasonal vegetables and bean curd, courtesy of the resident monks. You could also wind your way past teagardens along the Wisdom Path - inscription on 38 large timber obelisks, with verses from the centuries-old Heart Sutra, one of the best-known Buddhist prayers.
Capitalising on the cultural heritage and natural setting of Lantau, a themed Ngong Ping Village is a new tourist attraction here. This houses an education centre, a Buddhist museum, a family walking trail, lotus ponds, a teahouse and souvenir shops. And a few kilometres along the coast of Lantau at Penny’s Bay, your dreams come true at Hong Kong Disneyland –one of Asia’s largest tourism attractions.
Like everywhere else in Hong Kong, change is becoming the constant in this large and once-isolated island. Yet Lantau will likely to remain a welcome escape from the city for years to come, a mountainous retreat hiding many of Hong Kong’s hidden treasures.
When in Hong Kong, have a lot of eco-fun, this time. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has introduced eco-oriented fun tours to explore hidden green treasures, which offer visitors a diverse array of nature-tourism products and experiences every day of the week, and features different guided tours throughout the year to tie in with the changing seasons. The Mai Po Wetland Experience and Hong Kong Wetlands Delight Tour let you explore popular wetlands and get close to nature, while the Long Valley Ecotour takes you back to a bygone era. The Northeast New Territories Islands Hopping Tour takes you where only boats can venture, and Outdoor Adventures includes hikes through some of Hong Kong's most spectacular countryside. Let Dolphin Watching fill your heart with wonder, or visit the Tai O heritage site, where houses are built on stilts. And for military buffs, follow the Wong Nai Chung Gap Trail tracing an historic battle for Hong Kong during WWII. Whichever tour you choose, you are in for a green adventure that will crown your visit to Hong Kong!
For more details on these tours, please log on to DiscoverHongKong.com. And to book a tour, you can visit HKTB’s Visitor Information Services Centres.
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