island hopping.

i hope the infrequency of my posting hasn't scared any of you off. i'm always shocked when i return to the blog to realize so much time has gone by. as i write this entry, i'm rapidly approaching the end of the first third of my time in hong kong. even in almost four months, i still have not resolved my mixed feelings for hong kong. i visited hong kong park today, although a park is hardly what i would call it. because there are so many people in this city, parks here are designed to move the maximum amount of people through them as possible. you can't bring dogs, there are few benches, and don't even think about sitting on the grass. everything is designed to be looked at while on the move. add to that the fact that every time you look up, you can see at least 50 buildings over 30 stories high, and you end up with a pretty un-park-like feel.

as i discussed in my last post, i enjoy hong kong most when i'm not in hong kong. hong kong is made up of 260 islands, many of which are largely undeveloped. 40% of hong kong's 460 square miles has been reserved for country parks, and only 25% of this area has actually been developed. this weekend i took advantage of these country parks, and spent one day on the island of cheung chau, and the next hiking through lantau island. this combined with a visit to lamma island last weekend has given me a pretty good sense for some of the more popular islands in hong kong. here's a map of hong kong (as a side note, all of these pictures are much bigger than they appear on the blog, so click for more detail):


i've circled the three islands, as well as mong kok and tai po (where the university is). one note is that the red dot for mong kok should be to the right of the k, not to the left of the m. i'm not sure why they placed it all the way out there. i wish it was that close to the water... (also, i just realized that the whole map is tilted a little bit. you get the general idea, though.)

lamma is a beautiful island about 30 minutes from central hong kong by ferry. there are two major towns connected by a concrete foot path. the island has a number of beaches, and many of the inhabitants are expats. lamma is definitely one of the more expensive places to live in hong kong, and as a result, a number of boutiquey stores have popped up in the main town of sok kwu wan. lamma is another reminder, though, that you're never as far as you'd like to be from hong kong development. the main beach is called 'power station beach' because if you happen to look right, you'll notice an enormous electrical power plant. as long as you angle your towel to the left and ignore the shadow it casts, the beach is really beautiful.

hi.

cheung chau is much more densely populated, with 30,000 people living in just 2.5 square km. the island feels much more chinese than lamma, and many of the small winding alleys in the town of cheung chau sell traditional herbal medicines and paper hell money (to be burned in memory of the dead) over organic quinoa. i wasn't crazy about cheung chau at first (still so many people), but heading south i soon found myself on an abandoned trail that hugged the rocky coastline. the trail was really rugged in spots, and even involved some spelunking through a cave the notorious pirate cheung po tsai once hid in.

first look at cheung chau.

trail in southern cheung chau.

i'm really obsessed with lantau. yesterday, i went on a 15 km hike that took me over two peaks (sunset peak at 870 m and lantau peak at 980 m). lantau peak is the second highest in hong kong, and afforded some phenomenal views of the penninsula as well as the not so beautiful hong kong airport. one interesting note on the airport. like much of hong kong, the airport is built completely on reclaimed land located (as you can see from the map) off the north coast of lantau island. reclamation projects in hong kong are a huge source of tension, as developers are running out of flat space, while others wonder whether victoria harbor (the body of water between hong kong island and kowloon) will even be here in ten years.

pretty normal photo for hong kong: huge area of reclaimed land, city area with a lot of skyscrapers, plenty of smog and lots of green.

anyway, the hike on lantau was definitely the best i've been on in hong kong, and maybe one of the better day hikes i've ever been on. the sky was unusually clear, and descending lantau peak with a view of po lin monastery (and the tian tan buddha) was really stunning. the 'big buddha' as it's more commonly called is apparently the largest, outdoor, seated, bronze buddha in the world. wooo. it was nice to arrive after a day of hiking, though, and sit down to a huge veggie lunch at the monastery.

looking back from sunset peak. all of these houses are rented by the monastery.

looking back at sunset peak from lantau peak (you can see the trail we hiked at the bottom of the photo).

approaching the big buddha from lantau peak.

as i'm still a little overwhelmed by the intense development/consumption/excess/insanity of downtown hong kong, it's been nice to find things to do with my time off work that get me away from the malls. i think i'll close by sharing a song i've had on repeat for the past two weeks. hope everyone is well.

little brother (electric) by grizzly bear.

and for no reason, me in a pumpkin: