Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents
Top Attractions | Worth Noting
With rustic villages, incense-filled temples, green hiking trails, and pristine beaches, the New Territories are another favorite Hong Kong getaway. Until a generation ago, the region was mostly farmland. Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, and other “new towns” now house more than 500,000 residents apiece and can seem like other parts of Hong Kong. Even so, the region spreads over an expansive 518 square km (200 square miles), and it’s still easy to get away from urban congestion and visit lush parks and glimpse traditional rural life in restored walled villages and ancestral clan halls.
The Territory
The New Territories borders mainland China to the north. Sai Kung Peninsula lies to the east. Places worth visiting are a fair distance from each other, so day trips here take some planning. It’s best to choose two or three sights to visit in a day, allowing 15–30 minutes of travel time between each, depending on whether you’re going by bus or taxi. Note that fewer people speak English away from the city center.
Getting Around
Between the bus and MTR, you can get close to many sights. Set off on the MTR from Central to Tsuen Wan; from there, taxis, buses, and minibuses will take you to places such as the Yuen Yuen Institute and Tai Mo Shan. For Sha Tin and other spots in the east, take the MTR to Kowloon Tong; transfer to the East Rail line to Sha Tin station. To reach the Sai Kung Peninsula, take the MTR from Central to Choi Hung, then the green Minibus 1A to Sai Kung Town.
To tour at your own pace, consider hiring a car and driver.
Ace Hire Car.
Ace Hire Car charges HK$250 per hour (three-hour minimum), exclusive of tunnel tolls. | 2893–0541 | www.acehirecar.com.hk.
Taking It In
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a tour type, the best way to see some of the smaller villages is on one of the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s organized tours. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
Gray Line Tours.
Gray Line Tours has full- and half-day tours that stop at the Yuen Yuen Institute and Tai Mo Shan lookout, among other places in the New Territories. Full-day tours (HK$560, including lunch) depart at about 9 am; exact time and location are confirmed upon booking. Half-day tours (HK$420) depart at about the same time and return two hours earlier, without lunch. There are also afternoon and evening tours. | 2368–7111 | www.grayline.com.hk.
Gray Line’s five-hour Heritage Tour (HK$420) takes you to the Man Mo Temple, Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees, and other cultural sights. Tours depart from the Kowloon Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui at 8:45 am Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Quick Bites
Sai Kung Town’s waterfront has a plethora of outdoor seafood restaurants.
Honeymoon Dessert Shop.
If you have a sweet tooth, drop by the famous Honeymoon Dessert Shop for such saccharine delights as mango pudding, chilled sago coconut soup, and banana crepes. Go on, you deserve it. | Ground fl., 9-10ABC Po Tung Rd., Sai Kung, New Territories | 2792–4991 | www.honeymoon-dessert.com/en_us.
Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery.
On Castle Peak Road near Tuen Mun, the Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery is a popular place for a vegetarian lunch. Dishes have lots of greens, mushrooms, and “meat,” which is actually made from rice flour. Lunch is served between noon and 3:30. | 18 Castle Peak Rd., New Territories | 2461–8567 | Station: Siu Hong, Exit B.
Top Attractions
Fodor’s Choice | Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
This fabulous museum is Hong Kong’s largest, yet it still seems a well-kept secret: chances are you’ll have most of its 10 massive galleries to yourself. They ring an inner courtyard, which pours light into the lofty entrance hall.
The New Territories Heritage Hall is packed with local history—6,000 years of it. See life as it was in beautiful dioramas of traditional villages—one on land, the other on water (with houses on stilts). The last gallery documents the rise of massive urban New Towns. There’s even a computer game that lets you design your own.
In the T.T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art, exquisite antique Chinese glass, ceramics, and bronzes fill nine hushed second-floor rooms. The curators have gone for quality over quantity. Look for the 4-foot-tall terra-cotta Horse and Rider, a beautiful example of the figures enclosed in tombs in the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). The Tibetan religious statues and thankga paintings are unique in Hong Kong.
The Cantonese Opera Heritage Hall is all singing, all dancing, and utterly hands-on. The symbolic costumes, tradition-bound stories, and stylized acting of Cantonese opera can be impenetrable: the museum provides simple explanations and stacks of artifacts, including century-old sequined costumes that put Vegas to shame. Don’t miss the virtual makeup display, where you get your on-screen face painted like an opera character’s.
Kids love the Children’s Discovery Gallery, where hands-on activities for 4- to 10-year-olds include putting a broken “archaeological find” together. The Hong Kong Toy Story charts more than a century of local toys.
- Look for the audio tours in English, which are available for special exhibitions.
- There’s lots of ground to cover: Prioritize the New Territories Heritage, the T.T. Tsui Gallery, and the Cantonese Opera Halls, all permanent displays, and do the temporary history and art exhibitions if energy levels permit.
- The museum is a five-minute signposted walk from Che Kung Temple station. If the weather’s good, walk back along the leafy riverside path that links the museum with Sha Tin station, in New Town Plaza mall, 15 minutes away.
1 Man Lam Rd., Sha Tin, New Territories | 2180–8188 | hk.heritage.museum | HK$10; free on Wed. | Mon. and Wed.–Sat. 10–6, Sun. and holidays 10–7 | Station: Che Kung or Sha Tin.
Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
You climb some 400 steps to reach this temple: but look on the bright side, for each step you get about 32 Buddhas. The uphill path through dense vegetation is lined with life-size golden Buddhas in all kinds of positions. If you’re dragging bored kids along, get them to play “Spot the Celebrity Lookalike” on the way. TIP In summer bring water and insect repellent. Prepare to be dazzled inside the main temple, where walls are stacked with gilded ceramic statuettes. There are actually nearly 13,000 Buddhas here, made by Shanghai craftsmen and donated by worshippers over the decades. Kwun Yum, goddess of mercy, is one of several deities honored in the crimson-walled courtyard.
Look southwest on a clear day and you can see nearby Amah Rock, which resembles a woman with a child on her back. Legend has it that this formation was once a faithful fisherman’s wife who climbed the mountain every day to wait for her husband’s return, not knowing he’d been drowned. Tin Hau, goddess of the sea, took pity on her and turned her to stone.
The temple is in the foothills of Sha Tin, in the central New Territories. Take Exit B out of Sha Tin station, walk down the pedestrian ramp, and take the first left onto Pai Tau Street. Keep to the right-hand side of the road and follow it around to the gate where the signposted path starts. TIP Don’t be confused by the big white buildings on the left of Pai Tau Road. They are ancestral halls, not the temple. | Off Pai Tau St., Sha Tin, New Territories | Free | Daily 9–5:30 | Station: Sha Tin, Exit B.
Worth Noting
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum.
Located in the Institute of Chinese Studies building, the museum has paintings and calligraphy from the Qing period to modern times. There are also collections of bronze seals, carved jade flowers, and ceramics from South China. Take the East Rail line to University station, then a campus bus or taxi. | Tai Po Rd., Sha Tin, New Territories | 3943–7416 | www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/amm | Free | Daily 10–5 | Station: University.
Ching Chung Koon Taoist Temple.
Adjacent to the Ching Chung LRT station near the town of Tuen Mun, this temple has room after room of altars filled with the heady scent of incense. On one side of the main entrance is a cast-iron bell with a circumference of about 5 feet—all large monasteries in ancient China rang such bells at daybreak to wake the monks and nuns for a day of work in the rice fields. On the other side of the entrance is a huge drum that was used to call the workers back in the evening. Inside, some rooms are papered with small pictures; people pay the temple to have these photos displayed so they can see their dearly departed as they pray. Colorful plants and flowers, hundreds of dwarf shrubs, ornamental fishponds, and pagodas bedeck the grounds. The temple’s entrance isn’t obvious, so ask for directions. | Tuen Mun, New Territories | 2462–1507 | www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/nt-chingchungkoon.html | Station: Siu Hong, Exit B.
Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees.
People from throughout Hong Kong come to these two banyan trees to make wishes and offerings. Some burn joss sticks and incense; others used to throw an orange—tied to a wish written on a piece of paper—up into a tree (if it caught on a branch the wish would come true). Unfortunately, the weight of the oranges caused several branches to fall off and the practice has ended. Now, when people visit the trees during exam time or when their health or that of a loved one is in jeopardy, they can tie the joss paper onto nearby wooden racks. Take the East Rail line to Tai Po Market train station, then take Bus 64K or 64P, or Minibus 25K. | Lam Tsuen Village, New Territories.
Liu Man Shek Tong.
In the far northern New Territories—just south of Shenzhen—a small unmarked path in the village of Sheung Shui leads to this ancestral hall. It was built in 1751 and was one of few such halls that survived the Cultural Revolution. A restoration preserved the spectacular original roofs and ornamentation, but substituted concrete walls to take the weight off rickety pillars—at some cost to the site’s aesthetic unity. The Liu clan, for whom this hall was built, was obsessed with education: the wood panels hung in the rear hall indicate the education levels achieved by various clan members under the old imperial civil-service-exam system of the Qing Dynasty. Take the East Rail line to Sheung Shui, then Bus 70X or 73K and alight at Sheung Shui Wai on Jockey Club Road. | Mun Hau Tsuen, Sheung Shui, New Territories | 2208–4400 | www.lcsd.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/monuments_30.php | Free | Wed., Thurs., and weekends 9–1 and 2–5 | Station: Sheung Shui.
Man Mo Temple.
Adjacent to the Tai Po Market is the 100-year-old temple that was built to commemorate the establishment of the town of Tai Po. As you draw near, you’ll smell the incense offered by worshippers. | Fu Shin St., Tai Po, New Territories | www.lcsd.gov.hk/ce/Museum/Monument/en/monuments_23.php | Free | Daily 9–6 | Station: Tai Wo.
Pak Tai Temple.
In the 19th century, Cheung Chau Island was a haven for pirates like the notorious Cheung Po Tsai, whose name translates as Cheung Po the Kid, and whose treasure cave is reportedly on the island’s southwest tip. The temple here is dedicated to Pak Tai, the god of the sea, who is supposed to have rid the island of pirates. He’s thanked during the weeklong springtime Bun Festival, filled with parades of the island’s deities, huge towers of buns, and lots of color. The renovated temple originally dates to 1783, when an image of Pak Tai was brought to appease the spirits of people killed by pirates, thought to be the source of bubonic plague outbreaks. Apparently he did the trick: he remains the island’s favorite deity. Beside the main altar are four whalebones from the nearby sea. TIP Make a full day of your trip to Cheung Chau. It’s a gorgeous island with several temples. Kwan Yu Pavilion, the biggest, is dedicated to war god Kwan Tai. There’s also a Kwun Yum temple and four shrines honoring sea goddess Tin Hau. A walk takes in most places of worship as well as the pirate cave. New World First Ferry sails to Cheung Chau twice hourly from Central Ferry Pier 5. Normal ferries take 50 minutes, fast ones 30. Turn left from the Cheung Chau ferry pier and walk ½ km (¼ mile) along waterfront Praya Street, until you see the temple to your right, over a playground. | Pak She St., Cheung Chau Island, New Territories | www.ctc.org.hk/en/directcontrol/temple23.asp | Free | Daily 7–5.
Sai Kung Peninsula.
To the east of Sha Tin, this landmass has a few small towns and Hong Kong’s most beloved nature preserve. The hikes through the hills surrounding High Island Reservoir are spectacular, and Sai Kung Country Park has several hiking trails that wind through majestic hills overlooking the water. Seafood restaurants dot the waterfront at Sai Kung Town as well as the tiny fishing village of Po Toi O in Clear Water Bay. At Sai Kung Town you can rent a sampan that will take you to one of the many islands in the area for a day at the beach. Take the MTR to Choi Hung and then Bus 92 or 96R, or Minibus 1A or 1S to Sai Kung Town. Instead of taking the bus, you can also catch a taxi along Clearwater Bay Road, which will take you into forested areas and land that’s only partially developed with Spanish-style villas overlooking the sea. This excursion will take a full day, and you should only go if it’s sunny. | Sai Kung Peninsula, Kowloon.
Sam Tung Uk Museum.
A walled Hakka village from 1786 was saved from demolition to create this museum. It’s in the middle of industrial Tsuen Wan, in the western New Territories, so its quiet whitewashed courtyards and small interlocking chambers contrast greatly with the nearby residential towers. Hakka villages were built with security in mind, and this one looks more like a single large house than a village. Indeed, most Hakka village names end in uk, which literally means “house”—Sam Tung Uk translates as “Three Beam House.” Rigid symmetry dictated the village’s construction: the ancestral hall and two common chambers form the central axis, which is flanked by the more private areas. The front door is angled to face west–southwest, in keeping with feng shui principles of alignment between mountain and water. Traditional furniture and farm tools are displayed in each room. TIP Head through the courtyards and start your visit in the exhibition hall at the back, where a display gives helpful background on Hakka culture and pre-industrial Tsuen Wan—explanations are sparse elsewhere. You can also try on a Hakka hat. | 2 Kwu Uk Lane, Tsuen Wan, New Territories | 2411–2001 | www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/eng/museums/samtunguk.aspx | Free | Wed.–Mon. 10–6 | Station: Tsuen Wan, Exit B3.
Sha Tin.
Whether you enter Sha Tin by road or rail, you’ll be amazed to find this metropolis in the middle of the New Territories. One of the so-called “new towns,” Sha Tin underwent a population explosion starting in the mid-1980s that transformed it from a town of 30,000 to a city of more than a half million. It’s home to Sha Tin Park and the fantastic Hong Kong Heritage Museum, which is devoted to Chinese history, art, and culture. | New Territories.
Sha Tin Racecourse.
This popular race track is newer (it opened in 1978) and larger (the capacity is 83,000) than the one in Happy Valley, and it’s a spectacular place to watch a race. It’s one of the world’s most modern courses and, as such, is the venue for all championship events, including the official equestrian events during the 2008 Olympics. Racing season is from September through June. The racecourse has its own stop on the MTR East Rail line (Racecourse) that is open only on race days.
Whether you enter Sha Tin by road or rail, you’ll be amazed to find this metropolis in the middle of the New Territories. One of the so-called “new towns,” Sha Tin underwent a population explosion starting in the mid-1980s that transformed it from a town of 30,000 to a city of more than a half million. | Near Tai Po Rd., Sha Tin, New Territories | 2966–6520 | www.racecourses.hkjc.com | HK$10 | Station: Racecourse.
Tai Fu Tai Mansion.
It’s worth the trek almost to the mainland China border to visit this preserved 1865 home of New Territories merchant and philanthropist Man Ching-luen. The surefire path to becoming a big shot in Imperial China was passing civil service examinations, but few people from Hong Kong—which was hicksville at the time—made the grade. Man Ching-luen proved the exception in 1875. Congratulatory tablets from the emperor hang in the house’s entrance hall. The room layout, beautifully decorated doors, and roof ridges are all characteristic of Qing-dynasty architecture. Stained glass and rococo moldings reflect European influences, a result of the British victory over China in the Opium War of 1841. Women could watch guests unobserved from an upper gallery here, which also has an enclosed courtyard for stargazing, charmingly called a “moon playing chamber.” To reach the house, cross over the road outside Sheung Shui station and take Bus 76K toward Yuen Long—alight at San Tin, 5½ km (3½ miles) away. The five-minute walk to the mansion is signposted from there. Alternatively, get a taxi from the station—one-way costs HK$40; for about HK$100 the taxi will wait for you and take you back, too. | Wing Ping Tsuen, San Tin, New Territories | www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/monuments_32.php | Free | Wed.–Mon. 9–1 and 2–5.
Tai Mo Shan.
The name means Big Hat Mountain, and at 3,140 feet this volcanic outcropping north of Tsuen Wan in Tai Mo Shan Country Park is Hong Kong’s highest point. The “Foggy Mountain” is covered in clouds almost daily, but when the mist—and pollution—clears, the view stretches all the way to Hong Kong Island. To reach the viewpoint, take bus 51 from Tsuen Wan and get off at the intersection of Route Twisk and Tai Mo Shan Road. | Rte. Twisk and Tai Mo Shan Rd., New Territories.
Tai Po.
The name means “shopping place,” which it more than lives up to. In the heart of the region’s breadbasket, the town has become a utilitarian “new town,” but its main open-air market is a feast for the eyes, with baskets of lush green vegetables, freshly cut meat hanging from great racks overhead, fish swimming in tanks awaiting selection, and all types of baked and steamed treats. To reach the village, take the MTR East Rail line to the Tai Po Market stop. | Tai Po, New Territories | Station: Tai Po Market.
Tap Mun Island.
A couple of temples and shrines dot what’s also known as Grass Island, and beautiful beaches line the shore. Most people have a seafood lunch at the New Hon Kee Seafood Restaurant, run by Loi Lam, a stocky, vivacious fellow who speaks fluent English with a fantastic accent he picked up in Manchester, England. A sampan from Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung Country Park will speed you to the island. | New Territories.
Yuen Yuen Institute.
These pavilions and prayer halls built in the 1950s bring together the three streams of Chinese thought: Buddhism (which emphasizes nirvana and physical purity), Taoism (nature and inner peace), and Confucianism (following the practical and philosophical beliefs of Confucius). The main three-tier red pagoda is a copy of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and houses 60 statues representing the full cycle of the Chinese calendar—you can look for the one that corresponds to your birth year and make an incense offering. To reach the institute, take the MTR to Tsuen Wan, exit the station, and walk five minutes to Shiu Wo Street, then catch green Minibus 81 to To Lo Wai. | Lo Wai Village, New Territories | Tsuen Wan | 2492–2220 | Free | Daily 9–5 | Station: Tsuen Wan, Exit B1.
Previous Chapter | Beginning of Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents