This week’s dream: hiking in Hong Kong

published 21 January 2009

Hong Kong might not be the most "buzzy" Asian megalopolis (think Shanghai), nor, perhaps, the most "exotic", but in one respect it beats the competition hands down, says Carole Cadwalladr in the Observer: its natural setting. Thanks partly to strict planning rules enforced by the British, the city is among the most densely packed on the planet, while the surrounding territory has remained among the least populous. Not only is it unspoiled; it's also awesomely beautiful, replete with "towering sea cliffs", "undulating hills" and "sweeping bays". The result is a place where you can enjoy both an Asian city break and a rural getaway - in the course of a single day.

For a gentle hike, try the Dragon's Back trail on Hong Kong island itself. Starting a 20-minute cab ride away from Central, the city's main business district, it was nominated the best "urban hike" in the world by Time magazine, but there's little that's urban about it. By the time you've climbed to the first viewpoint, there's not a soul to be seen - just "beautiful bays" and "hills covered with thick vegetation".

The greatest glories, however, are to be found in the "breathtaking" Sai Kung national park. It's a thrill to approach it by powerboat, zooming out into the South China Sea past "tiny wooden boats containing fishermen wearing conical bamboo hats", beneath "circling sea eagles" and onto "postcard-perfect white sand beaches". You might enjoy a lunch of "delicious beef-fried noodles in a beach-side shack", followed by a blissful afternoon's swimming, sunbathing, kayaking or snorkelling above coral reefs. Stepping out of the metro station on your return to town, with the neon lights of the skyscrapers all around you, you'll "feel as if you've come back from the moon".