Tolo harbour, Hong Kong : hidden beauty of the colony

Hong Kong is better known as a great place for shopping and dinning.  Visitors coming to Hong Kong spend most of their time in the city areas.  Many of them see its beautiful Victoria Harbour and laser light show at night.  Not many of them venture out to see its country side.  In fact, Hong Kong has many more scenic places outside the city. 

We have recently experienced an enjoyable boat tour in the Tolo Harbour which is in the Northeast of Hong Kong. The boat tour starts from the pier near the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There are regular ferry services to outer islands through the Tolo Channel.  A round trip tour takes about 3 hours. You can enjoy the boat tour in leisure and watch the beautiful scenery along the way. 


(Ferry for the harbour tour)

(Natural beach along the harbour)

Accordingly to historical records, Tolo Harbour had pearl farms during the Ming Dynasty.  It was also the sea route for Chinese pottery export to Southeast Asia.  Except the two new towns, Shatin and Tai Po, the Tolo Harbour has kept its natural beauty mostly unchanged.

There is a national geopark in the Eastern side of the Tolo Channel. Here you can see the oldest rocks in Hong Kong.  Red sedimentary rocks were deformed due to earth movement.  With years of erosion, these rocks formed many different and interesting shapes.  

(Devils' fist in Bluff Head)

(Red beds landscape in Port Island)

Going further East, you will reach the Eastern most island in Hong Kong, Tung Ping Chau.  It means flat island in the East.  The island was formed by sedimentary rocks. The whole island is flat at about 100 meters about sea level. Besides interesting rock structures, there are many butterflies in the island.  Walking around the whole island will take about 2 hours.

(Siltstone in Lung Lok Shui, Tung Ping Chau)

(Abrasion canyon in the island)

(Stone watch tower, Kang Lau Shek, in the island)

Next time when you visit Hong Kong, you should reserve half a day for the Tolo Harbour tour.  You can then see different faces of Hong Kong.  If you are interested to know more about the geopark, you can look up http://www.geopark.gov.hk/.

Long White Mountain, Manchuria : in the border of North Korea and China

Long White Mountain, or White Mountain as called by locals, stands in the north-west border of North Korea and China.  The mountain is in fact a sleeping volcano.  The last eruption took place less than three hundred years ago.  The mountain is about 2,750 meters high.  Moisture from the Pacific Ocean turns the mountain top white with snow except the summer months.  We had run into a snow storm when we visited it in late May this year.

(Entrance gate to the Long White Mountain)

(Pine trees and silver birch covered by snow)

(Snow capped mountain top - with hexagon shaped rocks)

The White Mountain is a holy place for both Koreans and Manchurians. In their legend, their gods lived in the mountain. Their ancestors settled around the mountain long time ago.  During our trip, we saw many tourists from South Korea.  Few of them even prayed to the mountain. 

(Hanging snow cliff in the mountain top)

(Hot spring along the water stream)

(Beautiful water stream with snow covered rocks)

The Long White Mountain is rich in vegetation.  According to Roy Lancester, there are more species of vegetation in the Long White Mountain than those in the British Isles. (Lancaster, Roy. Plantsman’s paradise: travels in China. Suffolk, UK: Garden Art Press, 2008.) 

Ginseng is one of the well-known Chinese herb from this area.  Many local villagers sell ginseng and local herbs near tourist hotels. We were delighted to see few flowers already blooming in the early Spring.  They grew beautifully near the pine tree forest.  We saw them during our leisure morning walk through the forest.

(Beautiful pine trees and blue sky)

(Undergrows ready to bloom)

(Beautiful blow flower blooming under the sun)

Ontario and Quebec, Canada : leisure drive in the country side

Canada is our second home.  We have revisited this lovely country at least once every year in the past twenty years.  In particular, we like to drive through the country side in leisure.  This summer, we revisited Ontario and Quebec.  Beside seeing our families and friends there, we also revisited their beautiful country side.  Here we just pick a few photos for your viewing.  You may have already been there or you will like to visit there in the future.

Alqonquin Provincial Park in Ontario is one of the popular summer resort areas. It is a great place for camping, canoeing, watching wild lives or leisure walks in the wood. You can visit the Park in different seasons and see the colour changes in the nature.



(Ready for canoeing in the Canoe Lake near the West Gate of Algonquin Park)



(Camping in the shore of the Madawaska River)

(Swimming in the quiet Wadsworth lake)

The Ottawa Valley has been homes for many early European settlers.  English settlers stayed in the South side of the Ottawa River and French stayed in the North.  There are also few European settlement villages nearby.  If you drive along Highway 60 towards Ottawa, you will pass the small town Wilno which is the first Polish Settlement in Canada.  You will also see few motels and restaurants which are run by Dutch, German or Swiss families in the Outaouais area. Many diary farms can be found in both sides of the Ottawa River.  Traffic is light in the country side.  We like to drive through the country roads in leisure and enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

(Well maintained, wooded, century-old bridge near Fort-Coulonge)

(Restaurant operated by a German-Dutch family near Wakefield)

(Beautiful lupin growing along the road side)

Ontario and Quebec have many lakes.  They are great retreats for the Summer season.  In the 19th century, Ontario developed network of waterways for military and economic purposes.  Now, these waterways become popular routes for leisure boats.  We like to go for picnic near the water locks and watch leisure boats passing by.  This time, we stopped by Smith Falls and visited few historical sites there. Smiths Falls lie in the middle of Rideau Waterway which joins Ottawa, the capital of Canada and the St. Lawrence Seaway in Kingston.   


(Campers enjoying their stay in Smiths Falls)



(Tallest structure in Smiths Falls)

Each year, millions of tourists and local residents in Canada and United States visit Niagara Falls.  Most of them spend their time seeing the great water falls or trying their luck in the casinos there.  We like to drive through the Niagara Parkway between Niagara-On-The-Lake and Fort Erie.  The Parkway is peaceful and beautiful.  We find that this can be comparable only by the St. Lawrence Parkway between Kingston and Cornwall.  You can try these scenic drives next time you are there.

(Seeing the Niagara Falls from the Canadian side)

(Leisure boats docking near the Niagara Parkway)

(House along the Niagara Parkway)