Reservoirs, Woodlands and Uplands
It takes less than 20 minutes to get from the busy new town of Fan Ling to the tranquility and beauty of the Lau Shui Heung reservoir. Once
there, we embark on a pleasant walk through beautiful woodlands filled with singing birds and fluttering butterflies. Who knows we might
even spot a deer or a wild pig…
Following a circuitous undulating route through woods and across open ridges – with plenty of look-out points along the way – we eventually
reach the Sha Lo Tung valley. The valley was originally excluded from Pat Sin Leng Country Park out of respect for the farmers in the village.
Now their absentee descendants would like to develop the area, but so far all proposals for luxury housing has been turned down for
environmental reasons. Ecologically valuable as one of Hong Kong’s few unpolluted upland valleys, the valley is home to a good proportion of
the species that are dependent on fresh water to be found in the territory.
The head of the valley is an open area of disused rice fields with three almost abandoned villages on the perimeter. Conditions permitting, we
will visit Cheung Uk, which is the best preserved of the three. The exteriors of the houses here are mostly intact and no new houses have
been built for more than 30 years. The fung shui wood is growing healthily behind the village, making Cheung Uk a great place to get an
impression of what a Hakka village looked like 30-50 years ago.
From the village, we proceed into woodland and, making our way through fields and groves of with lychee trees, eventually reach the small
Hok Tau Reservoir, set deep in the valley with the Pat Sin Leng range rising steeply upwards to the east.
From the reservoir, it is a short stroll down to Hok Tau Wai, where we catch a minibus to Fan Ling, before ending our outing by joining parts of
the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail. Lung Yeuk Tau has been the settlement of the Tang clan since the Southern Song dynasty and the Trail
links up 12 historical buildings, structures and sites that fully reflect the early history and way of life of the earliest inhabitants in the New
Territories.
It takes less than 20 minutes to get from the busy new town of Fan Ling to the tranquility and beauty of the Lau Shui Heung reservoir. Once
there, we embark on a pleasant walk through beautiful woodlands filled with singing birds and fluttering butterflies. Who knows we might
even spot a deer or a wild pig…
Following a circuitous undulating route through woods and across open ridges – with plenty of look-out points along the way – we eventually
reach the Sha Lo Tung valley. The valley was originally excluded from Pat Sin Leng Country Park out of respect for the farmers in the village.
Now their absentee descendants would like to develop the area, but so far all proposals for luxury housing has been turned down for
environmental reasons. Ecologically valuable as one of Hong Kong’s few unpolluted upland valleys, the valley is home to a good proportion of
the species that are dependent on fresh water to be found in the territory.
The head of the valley is an open area of disused rice fields with three almost abandoned villages on the perimeter. Conditions permitting, we
will visit Cheung Uk, which is the best preserved of the three. The exteriors of the houses here are mostly intact and no new houses have
been built for more than 30 years. The fung shui wood is growing healthily behind the village, making Cheung Uk a great place to get an
impression of what a Hakka village looked like 30-50 years ago.
From the village, we proceed into woodland and, making our way through fields and groves of with lychee trees, eventually reach the small
Hok Tau Reservoir, set deep in the valley with the Pat Sin Leng range rising steeply upwards to the east.
From the reservoir, it is a short stroll down to Hok Tau Wai, where we catch a minibus to Fan Ling, before ending our outing by joining parts of
the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail. Lung Yeuk Tau has been the settlement of the Tang clan since the Southern Song dynasty and the Trail
links up 12 historical buildings, structures and sites that fully reflect the early history and way of life of the earliest inhabitants in the New
Territories.
Download Reservation Form here or click here to request more information.
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