Hong Kong Country Trails: Walking the Ridges and the Coast of Ten Thousand Columns

The image most people have of Hong Kong is Victoria Harbour, Temple Street, and crowded markets. But just cross one of the border checkpoints from Shenzhen, hop on a bus or the MTR, and in half a day you can step into its other side: weathered ridges, alpine meadows like Wugong Mountain, almost-empty beaches, and a coast of ten thousand columns left behind by Jurassic volcanoes. Below are four country hikes in Hong Kong that I’ve done, ranging from hardcore “qualifying” routes to easy seascape walks—pick whichever suits your fitness and your schedule.

Beiling Double Crossing

Overview

• Location: Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
• Duration: about 7 hours of hiking; roughly a full daytime round trip from downtown Shenzhen
• Transport: cross at Shenzhen Bay Port, then take a Hong Kong bus to the trailhead
• Budget reference: under 100 yuan (per person, transport + snacks)
• Effort: 4 stars
• Suitable for: people with a baseline of fitness
• Season and weather: recommended in cooler weather; heatstroke comes easily under the sun
• Main highlights: tackling one of Hong Kong’s four great “qualifying” routes; gazing across at the Shenzhen Bay Bridge

One of Hong Kong’s four great “qualifying” routes. The Beiling Double Crossing is one of the four great qualifying routes of Hong Kong hiking, referring to the route from Castle Peak (Pui To Shan) to Yuen Tau Shan (Ling To Shan). The full route is about 15 kilometers, threading through the hilly heartland of Castle Peak, and is demanding both physically and technically. The route usually starts from the Tsing Shan Monastery in Tuen Mun, crossing Castle Peak and then Yuen Tau Shan before descending to Ling To Monastery; alternatively, you can climb up the south ridge of Castle Peak and descend along the same route to Ling To Monastery. Because of the large elevation changes, the severely weathered and rugged trails, and the almost total lack of shade along the way, the Beiling Double Crossing is regarded as a route of considerable difficulty.

We did the whole thing in the rain, and without the sun it was actually fairly easy—very little dehydration, two bottles of water were enough, and overall it was a great experience.

From a hiking standpoint, the Beiling Double Crossing is 15 kilometers with about 1,000 meters of ascent—not especially intense—but the trail is fairly slippery, so it’s still better suited to experienced hikers or to going with a reliable guide (you can find the track by searching “杯灵双渡” in the Liangbulu app).

Gazing across at the Shenzhen Bay Bridge. As someone who often strolls in Shenzhen Bay Park, I always look across at Hong Kong on the other side, and before going I kept imagining what that world over there was like. This route happens to let you look back at Shenzhen Bay from the opposite direction, and seeing it from the other shore for the first time was quite moving.

Tips

What to prepare in advance:

• Mainland Travel Permit + visa endorsement + a Hong Kong data plan (buy one directly on Taobao) + the Hong Kong transit code in Alipay
• Hiking shoes + trekking poles + drinking water (bring a bottle of sports drink; they’re pricier in Hong Kong, so buy in Shenzhen)
• Search “杯灵双渡” in the Liangbulu app, review the route ahead of time, and import the track to your phone

Itinerary:

1. After clearing the Shenzhen Bay Port, take bus B3 and get off at “Tuen Mun Town Centre”
2. Search “青山寺径” (Tsing Shan Monastery Path) in Amap; it’s about a 20-minute walk
3. Just follow the track you imported earlier; after descending, use Amap to navigate by bus or taxi back to Shenzhen Bay Port

Kai Kung Leng

Overview

• Location: Yuen Long, Hong Kong
• Duration: about 6 hours of hiking; roughly most of a daytime round trip from downtown Shenzhen
• Transport: cross at Futian Port, then take a Hong Kong minibus to the trailhead
• Budget reference: around 100 yuan (per person, transport + snacks)
• Effort: 3 stars
• Suitable for: people with a baseline of fitness
• Season and weather: the cool stretch of July to September (the grass is greener then, but heatstroke comes easily in the sun)
• Main highlights: alpine meadows like Wugong Mountain; gazing across at Shenzhen

Alpine meadows like Wugong Mountain. The scenery at Kai Kung Leng looks a lot like Wugong Mountain—both are vast alpine meadows. There’s not much to say here, so let me just drop a few photos for reference.

From a hiking standpoint, Kai Kung Leng is 7 kilometers with about 600 meters of ascent. The intensity is low—much easier than the Beiling Double Crossing—so anyone with even a little fitness can take it on, but do watch out for heatstroke (you can find the track by searching “鸡公岭” in the Liangbulu app).

Gazing across at Shenzhen. Just like the Beiling Double Crossing, from Kai Kung Leng you can also look across at Shenzhen on the other side, with the Ping An Finance Centre especially prominent.

Tips

What to prepare in advance:

• Mainland Travel Permit + visa endorsement + a Hong Kong data plan (buy one directly on Taobao) + the Hong Kong transit code in Alipay + Hong Kong dollar cash or an Octopus card (Hong Kong minibuses don’t take QR payments)
• Hiking shoes + trekking poles + drinking water (bring a bottle of sports drink; they’re pricier in Hong Kong, so buy in Shenzhen)
• Search “鸡公岭” in the Liangbulu app, review the route ahead of time, and import the track to your phone

Itinerary:

1. After clearing Futian Port, take minibus No. 75 and get off at “Pok Wai” (壆 is pronounced like “勃,” Cantonese 【bok3】); remember to tell the driver you want to get off here when you board
2. After getting off, search “鸡公岭观景台” (Kai Kung Leng Viewing Point) in Amap; it’s about a 10-minute walk
3. Just follow the track you imported earlier; after descending, use Amap to navigate by bus, metro, or taxi back to Futian Port

Sharp Peak

Overview

• Location: Sai Kung, Hong Kong
• Duration: about 9 hours of hiking; roughly a full daytime round trip from downtown Shenzhen
• Transport: cross at Futian Port, then take the MTR and transfer to a Hong Kong bus to the start
• Budget reference: around 200 yuan (per person, transport + snacks)
• Effort: 5 stars
• Suitable for: people with a baseline of fitness
• Season and weather: when it’s cool and visibility is good
• Main highlights: tackling the foremost of Hong Kong’s “Three Peaks”; having a beach to yourself; walking along a ridge that juts into the sea

The foremost of Hong Kong’s “Three Peaks” + one of the four great qualifying routes. The “Three Peaks” refers to three of Hong Kong’s pointier summits. According to Wikipedia, Hong Kong’s Three Peaks are currently Sharp Peak in Sai Kung (468 m), High Junk Peak in Clear Water Bay (344 m), and Castle Peak in Tuen Mun (583 m); their high elevations, steep terrain, and stretches strewn with hard-to-cross scree earned them the collective name of Hong Kong’s Three Peaks. From photos taken at a distance, they do all look quite sharp.

If you only look at the ascent of a single peak, none of the Three Peaks is much; the difficulty of Sharp Peak lies in the route as a whole. This route is also known as “One Peak, Three Capes, Four Bays” and is one of Hong Kong’s four great qualifying routes. These so-called qualifying routes are passed down by word of mouth, their origins lost to history—the four are “Round the Reservoir to the Cape,” “One Peak, Three Capes, Four Bays,” “The Full Three Fangs of Kau Nga Ling,” and “Beiling Double Crossing.” What they share is being mostly unofficial routes, in poor condition, lacking signage, long, with little resupply, and brutally exposed to the sun the whole way. Comfortably completing all four counts as a small achievement in Hong Kong hiking.

Looking at the route as a whole, “One Peak, Three Capes, Four Bays” is fairly long (26 kilometers) but doesn’t have all that much ascent (around 1,000 meters), consisting mainly of roads, woodland, and ridgelines, and it also passes a few beaches with very few people—gorgeous.

Having a beach to yourself. On the way to Sharp Peak you pass several beaches, and probably because the paths leading to them are all rather difficult, they’re almost deserted (just the occasional few people who arrived by yacht).

Walking along a ridge that juts into the sea. Viewed from the air looking west to east, the route to Sharp Peak is like a ridgeline plunging straight into the sea—truly spectacular—and the front section near the water has a real “ends of the earth” feel to it.

Tips

What to prepare in advance:

• Mainland Travel Permit + visa endorsement + a Hong Kong data plan (buy one directly on Taobao) + the Hong Kong transit code in Alipay
• Hiking shoes + trekking poles + drinking water (it’s pricier in Hong Kong, so buy in Shenzhen; there’s resupply along the way)
• Search “蚺蛇尖” in the Liangbulu app, review the route ahead of time, and import the track to your phone (not recommended for beginners to go on their own)

Itinerary:

1. After clearing Futian Port, take the MTR, transfer to bus 289 at “Sha Tin Town Centre,” and get off at “Pak Tam Au” (Jiyu Wu)
2. Just follow the track you imported earlier; after descending, take bus 289 back from “Pak Tam Au,” again transferring to the MTR at “Sha Tin Town Centre” to return to Futian Port

Po Pin Chau

Overview

• Location: Sai Kung, Hong Kong
• Duration: about 4 hours of hiking; roughly a full daytime round trip from downtown Shenzhen
• Transport: cross at Futian Port, then take the MTR and transfer to a Hong Kong bus to the start
• Budget reference: around 100 yuan (per person, transport + water)
• Effort: 3 stars
• Suitable for: people with a baseline of fitness
• Season and weather: when it’s cool and visibility is good
• Main highlights: getting up close to the coast of ten thousand columns; sweeping sea-and-sky scenery the whole way

Getting up close to the coast of ten thousand columns. The coast of ten thousand columns is the biggest draw of Po Pin Chau. Elsewhere, coastlines are mostly irregular boulders, but here it’s neat column after column—quite spectacular, truly a marvel of nature’s craftsmanship. I looked it up: this landform was created by repeated volcanic eruptions in the Jurassic period and the cooling of the magma. According to Wikipedia, Po Pin Chau is an island in Hong Kong, located off the East Dam of the High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung District, famous for the wonder of its hexagonal stone columns. More than 100 million years ago, in the Jurassic period, Hong Kong experienced repeated volcanic eruptions that spewed out vast amounts of lava and volcanic ash; the ash that landed at the crater’s edge cooled to become columns with hexagonal cross-sections. The formation is about 200-plus meters long, about 100 meters wide, and about 63 meters high. Po Pin Chau was originally a headland extending into the sea from Fa Shan on Leung Shuen Wan; after years of erosion by the waves, it finally separated from Fa Shan and became a sea stack.

Sweeping sea-and-sky scenery the whole way. There are several routes to Po Pin Chau; we took the crossing from Pak Lap Village to Po Pin Chau. Almost the entire way, you can see gorgeous sea views: clear water, little islands in the distance, clean beaches… probably the most beautiful seascape route I’ve ever walked—highly recommended.

Tips

What to prepare in advance:

• Mainland Travel Permit + visa endorsement + a Hong Kong data plan (buy one directly on Taobao) + the Hong Kong transit code in Alipay
• Hiking shoes + trekking poles + drinking water (it’s pricier in Hong Kong, so buy in Shenzhen; there’s resupply along the way)
• Search “白蜡村穿越破边洲” in the Liangbulu app, review the route ahead of time, and import the track to your phone (anyone with hiking experience can take it on; the trail isn’t hard)

Itinerary:

1. After clearing Futian Port, take the MTR, transfer to bus 289R at “Sha Tin Town Centre,” get off at “Pak Tam Chung,” then take a taxi to Pak Lap Village
2. Just follow the track you imported earlier; after descending, you’ll see the stop for minibus 9A—take it back to “Pak Tam Chung,” then take bus 289R back, again transferring to the MTR at “Sha Tin Town Centre” to return to Futian Port