MISSING THE SAI KUNG MYSTERY
Not so long ago, Hong Kong was a sparsely populated collection of fishing villages. Then, after the first Opium War in 1842, it was made a colony of the British Empire and became a unique melting pot of Eastern and Western ideologies, rising to become one of the world’s most significant financial hubs. After being handed back to China in 1997, Hong Kong vowed to maintain a degree of independence and endeavoured to subsist on a principle of “one country, two systems”. That didn’t work out so well, and mainland China has spent the last quarter of a century trying to reassert itself.
That particular political maelstrom is still up in the air, but some things are more clearly defined. Hong Kong is now one of the most congested and densely populated regions on the planet with almost 7.5 million people crammed into an area of barely 426 square miles (1,104km2). It’s only natural that, when circumstances allow, residents would want to get away from it all and perhaps go for a hike in the countryside.
However, if you do this in an area called Sai Kung, you’d better keep your wits about you…
THE SAI KUNG ENCHANTMENT
Sai Kung district is made up of the southern half of Sai Kung Peninsula, Sai Kung town, Clear Water Bay, Hong King Global Geopark, a strip of land to the east of Kowloon, and over 70 islands of varying sizes. Often dubbed “the back garden of Hong Kong” it is known for its picturesque fishing villages, beautiful scenery, wildlife, beaches and hiking
