According to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the park will link the existing Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park and Brothers Marine Park, as well as the Hong Kong International Airport Approach Areas. This will increase the area for the conservation of marine ecology, fisheries resources, and marine biodiversity in the western part of Hong Kong. The newly designated protected marine space will also border the Pearl River Estuary Chinese White Dolphin National Nature Reserve in Guangdong, and therefore will link the protected areas for the marine mammal between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

The North Lantau Marine Park is Hong Kong’s eighth marine park, and will come under the Marine Parks Ordinance (Cap. 476), which provides a legal framework for the designation, control, and management of all the territory’s marine parks and its sole marine reserve at Cape D’Aguilar. The Marine Parks (Designation) (Amendment) Order 2024 was tabled in the Legislative Council on June 19, and will come into effect on November 1, 2024.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong got its 25th country park — Robin’s Nest in Sha Tau Kok. When it opened in March, the 530-hectare park had two hiking trails accessible to the public: Robin’s Nest Country Trail and Lin Ma Hang Country Trail. Authorities are working on building a wider hiking trail network in the park, along with picnic sites and viewing points.

Header image credits: gionnixxx via Canva, Hong Kong Dolphinwatch

The king cobra, which can grow up to 18 feet long, is known to be the longest venomous snake in the world and is one of eight native land snake species in Hong Kong that can inflict fatal bites — if not treated in time. Snake sightings in the city increase when the weather is hot and humid — typically between April and May — and the reptiles can be spotted in forests, water culverts, jogging trails, rives, and lakes. King cobras are found in small numbers across Hong Kong, and their diet consists of rodents, lizards, and even other snakes.

These cobras usually avoid humans and do not attack them unless provoked. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department recommends that laypeople should not attempt to catch snakes themselves to avoid getting bitten, even if one enters their homes. Instead, they should call the police hotline at 999 or a professional snake catcher. Victims of king cobra bites should be taken to the nearest hospital for professional medical treatment as soon as possible.

Header image credits: William Sargent via Facebook

In 2023, new records were established based on six different datasets used by the organisation.

In Hong Kong, 2023 was notably warmer, with an average temperature of 24.5°C, significantly above the historical norm, marking it as the second-warmest year since 1884. The Observatory recorded a high number of extremely hot days and nights.

For 2024, the tropical cyclone season in Hong Kong is expected to commence in June, with 5 to 8 cyclones predicted to approach within 500km of the SAR, by October. Amid ongoing climate warming, temperatures are anticipated to exceed average levels, potentially ranking among the top ten warmest years. Rainfall is forecasted to be near normal, yet heavy rains could impact the region. Last year, Hong Kong got its heaviest rainfall in 140 years.

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As the rainy season nears, the HKO will implement a series of measures to better track the weather (i.e. replacement of the weather radar at Tai Mo Shan) and communicate more with the public during severe weather conditions, including hourly briefings under the Black Rainstorm Signal, more information regarding the weather in the Greater Bay Area (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao) through the “MyObservatory” app, and the improvement of the chatbot, “Dr. Tin”.

Header Image Credit : The HK HUB and WikiImages and via Canva

According to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, which oversees all of the territory’s country parks, Robin’s Nest natural habitats include “secondary woodland, shrubland and upland grassland, [and is] is rich in biodiversity with many species of high conservation value, such as red azalea, incense tree, Chinese grassbird and Chinese pipistrelle.”

One of the biggest attractions in the park is the Lin Ma Hang Lead Mine, which will be turned into an open museum that the public can visit by the end of 2024. Once the mine is open, visitors can learn more about the galena mining history involving the site, as well as bat ecology. There are currently only two hiking trails that are open to the public — Robin’s Nest Country Trail and Lin Ma Hang Country Trail — and it takes 4-5 hours to walk along both. Authorities are working on building a wider hiking trail network in the park, along with picnic sites and viewing points.

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong government opened the Frontier Closed Area of Sha Tau Kok to tourists. Visitors who wish to go to the restricted area must apply for one-day permits using an online platform. Non-residents now have unrestricted access to most areas of the town — such as the largest remaining Guangzhou-style arcade complex in Hong Kong and the longest pier in the territory. The only part of the area that is off-limits to tourists is Chung Ying Street, which is shared between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Image credits: GovHK

The theme for this year’s open-day sessions is ‘At the frontline of climate action’. Visitors will therefore get to see exhibitions that will raise public awareness about climate change and demonstrate how the observatory uses the latest technology to provide services such as weather forecasting, aviation weather, microclimate monitoring, and radiation monitoring.

Anyone interested in attending the event should register online for a convenient time slot between 9.30am and 5pm, after which they will receive a QR code for entry no later than March 12. Each person can apply for a maximum of four tickets. If there are too many applications for certain time slots, the observatory will select visitors through computer balloting. Those who cannot make it to the in-person sessions can watch the open day online.

Image credits: Stewart~惡龍 via WikiCommons

The cherry trees were planted by the Hong Kong International Airport, in collaboration with a company based in Guangzhou, and are said to have firmer flower buds and more red-hued petals. The new-look garden has additions such as small mounds, photo spots, garden designs, fences, information boards, and resting areas. This year, the trees are expected to be in full bloom next week.

There are several buses that visitors can take from Tung Chung or downtown Hong Kong to get to the cherry blossom garden. Nature and photography enthusiasts can also take the Tung Chung Line of the MTR, get off at the Tung Chung MTR Station, and then take a bus to the garden or walk along Chek Lap Kok South Road to get there.

There are many places in Hong Kong to see cherry blossoms, which usually bloom from February to May, depending on the weather and climate. However, warmer temperatures in the winter and early spring mean that the trees could be in full bloom earlier than normal. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, December 2023 was warmer than usual, while the mean temperature for this month, as of January 28, has been 17.9 degrees Celsius — higher than the normal of 16.5 degrees — despite the recent cold snap that saw reports of ice and frost at Tai Mo Shan.

Image credits: Hong Kong International Airport

Some of the other names that made the cut pay homage to Hong Kong cultural icons, such as food staple Red-bean and Stoneslab, the nickname for Pottinger Street. Siu-lung, the stage name of the late martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, also emerged as a potential tropical cyclone name, as did Sing-si, the Cantonese name for Lion Dance.

Last month, the Hong Kong Observatory announced that residents of the city could vote for 40 potential tropical cyclone names that were submitted by members of the public in mid-2023. Some of the entries that did not make it to the final 20 were Jia Jia and An An— the famously long-lived giant pandas who resided at Ocean Park until their demise — as well as Ying Ying and Le Le, the current park pandas who turned 18 last August.

Since 2000, the 14 members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific/World Meteorological Organization Typhoon Committee have used a list to assign names to tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea. The current list includes 10 names submitted by Hong Kong, such as the Signal T8 Lion Rock that hit Hong Kong in October 2016, and Yun-yeung that affected Japan in September 2023.

Header image credits: janetcmt via Flickr, chpua & Leung Cho Pan via Canva

Park authorities will accept submissions on their campaign website until January 31, 2024. Each participant must suggest both a Chinese and an English name, and explain the concept behind the name. The student conservation group Ocean Park’s Seahorse Rangers will first select a name between February 19 and 29. This will be followed by a second selection round from March 4-12, during which members of the public can vote for one of five shortlisted names for the crocodile on the park’s social media pages.

Ocean Park will announce the crocodile’s name on March 12. Whoever submits the winning name will win four annual Ocean Park memberships, four tickets to the park’s Get Closer to the Animals programmes, and a food and beverage voucher worth HK$2,000. There are prizes for individuals whose submissions make it to the top four, such as general admission tickets, passes for the park’s special programmes, and F&B vouchers.

The crocodile was first spotted by a resident of Lin Fa Tei in the New Territories area of Pat Heung last year, and was an important find as crocodiles are not native to Hong Kong. The reptile was examined by Ocean Park and found to weigh 35 kilos, and measure 1.9 metres long. Estimates place the crocodile at around four years old at the time it was adopted by the park. It is currently housed at the park’s back-of-house area, but will make its debut as a park exhibit soon.

Image credits: Ocean Park Hong Kong

While other photographers shared images of what the observatory has called ‘cloud gap light’, none of them were able to capture the fluctus, which is difficult to do as it typically lasts only a minute or two, therefore making it hard to spot. It is formed when two different layers of air with different temperatures and speeds come together, causing the upper layer to ripple and curl like waves. This results in a series of vortices that create the crashing-wave appearance of the cloud.

Last summer, the observatory shared another image of a fluctus formation that was taken over Victoria Harbour. An eagle-eyed photographer also took pictures of lenticular clouds, also known as flying saucer clouds, over the harbour in August 2023 — an unusual occurrence as they are not usually seen in the summer.

Header image credit: Leung Yu Po via Hong Kong Observatory

The government’s red-leaf updates for 2023-2024 began on December 1. However, the leaves — which usually turn red by mid-December — were green at the beginning of the month and only started to turn yellow in the last two weeks of December. The website, which is updated every Friday, currently shows that, as of December 29, the leaves are transitioning from yellow to red.

The city’s sweet gum (Liquidambar formosana) trees typically change colour due to dry weather in autumn, along with low temperatures and strong sunlight hastening the decomposition of chlorophyll (green pigment) and facilitating the production of anthocyanin (red pigment). The trees at Tai Tong line the road of Tai Lam Country Park, and the contrast between the fiery reds and yellows of the sweet gum and the greens of the surrounding evergreens make for stunning photographs.

Every year, the MTR arranges a special red-leaf bus service, the K66A, to ferry visitors between the Long Ping Station and Tai Tong Shan Road. The bus runs between Long Ping and Tai Tong Shan Road from 9am and 2pm, and returns to the station from the woods between 1pm and 7pm. The service will be in operation on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays until January 14, 2024. 

Those who head to the woods by car should note that the section of Tai Tong Shan Road between the Pavilion and Tai Tong Shan Road Car Park will be intermittently closed between 7am and 7pm on the days that the K66A is in operation.

Tai Lam Country Park is also home to the famous Tai Lam Chung Reservoir, which is one of the Top 10 Natural Wonders of Hong Kong, courtesy the Thousand Islands Lake that were once hills before Tai Lam Chung Valley was flooded.

Header image credits: Derek Yung via Canva

The golf club applied for UNESCO consideration earlier this year in an attempt to prevent the government from building public housing on it. The jury reviewed 48 project entries from eight countries across the Asia-Pacific region, and selected 12 projects based on their understanding of place, their technical achievements, and their sustainability and impact.

Two other sites in the region received Awards of Distinction: Dongguan Garden Residences in Yangzhou, China, and Karnikara Mandapam at Kunnamangalam Bhagawati Temple in Kerala, India. Three other places in Mainland China were also recognised by UNESCO — Yan Nan Yuan, at Peking University, Beijing and Pan Family Residence in Suzhou were bestowed with Awards of Merit, while the Award for New Design in Heritage Contexts went to Erlitou Site Museum of the Xia Capital in Luoyang.

Earlier this year, 32 hectares of the golf course that included part of the Old Course were returned to the government. This section now operates as a park managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and has facilities such as an inclusive park for pets and a walking trail, as well as a two recently renovated 5-a-side hard-surface soccer pitches that are open to visitors every day.

However, the park, which the government refers to as the “park located east of Fan Kam Road”, occasionally returns to the Hong Kong Golf Club when there are tournaments, such as the recently-held Aramco Team Series in October, and the Hong Kong Open. In addition, the first three holes of the Old Course, which are still run by the Hong Kong Golf Club, are open to the public every Sunday as part of its Heritage Park programme.

Hong Kong has sites that have previously been acknowledged by UNESCO Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Conservation Awards, such as the Lai Chi Wo Rural Cultural Landscape Project (Special Recognition for Sustainable Development), Tai Kwun — Centre for Heritage and Arts (Award of Excellence), the Blue House Cluster (Award of Excellence), Revitalization of the Former Tai Po Police Station (Honorable Mention), and the Saltpans of Yim Tin Tsai (Award of Distinction).

Header image credits: UNESCO

Voters can make their selections from names that pay homage to Hong Kong foods, such as Dim Sum, Red Bean and Milktea, or symbols representative of the city, such as Neon, Lantern, Sampan, and Junk Boat. Entries also include Jia Jia and An An — the famously long-lived giant pandas who resided at Ocean Park until their demise — as well as Ying Ying and Le Le, the park pandas who turned 18 this August.

In addition, several potential names reference flowers, trees, and birds found in Hong Kong, such as Hibiscus, Paperbark, and Egret, while some suggestions include beloved city traditions like Fo-lung (Fire Dragon Dance) and Sing-si (Lion Dance). Siu-lung, the stage name of the late Bruce Lee, is also among the list.

Since 2000, the 14 members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific/World Meteorological Organization Typhoon Committee has used a list to name tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea. The current list includes 10 names provided by Hong Kong, such as the Signal T8 Lion Rock that hit Hong Kong in October 2016, and Yun-yeung that affected Japan in September 2023.

When the Typhoon Committee requests that a name be retired due to serious casualties and economic losses, one of its member states will submit proposed replacement names to the for the committee’s consideration.

Voting for the names of tropical cyclones to make it to the reserve list is open until January 7, 2024. To cast your vote, click here.

Header image credits: janeb13 via Pixabay

Guests can get picked up by a shuttle bus from the Yuen Long MTR station and arrive at Mai Po by 5pm. Once they arrive, they will go on a sunset walk around the freshwater marsh, followed by a Chinese dinner provided by the reserve.

The next day, after breakfast, participants will get a four-hour tour of several Mai Po wetland habitats, including fish ponds, gei wai (traditionally operated shrimp ponds), reed beds, mangroves, and freshwater ponds. The daytime walk will take visitors through a new barrier-free wooden trail and three-storey birdwatching tower, and end at 12.30pm.

The aim of the newly launched two-day-one-night programme is to help visitors learn about WWF’s work in Mai Po wetlands, including the conservation of waterbirds on the East Asia-Australia migration route. All participants must be eight years old and older, and each session can accommodate 16 visitors at most. The tours are conducted in Cantonese.

The Mai Po Nature Reserve is part of Deep Bay, a wetland area at the mouth of the Shenzhen River, the Shan Pui River, and Tin Shui Wai Nullah. It is home to a diverse population of birdlife, including the Black-faced Spoonbill, Black-headed Gull, and Little Ringed Plover. It is a restricted area under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance to protect wildlife from disturbance.

Anyone who is interested in signing up for the Mai Po Day & Night experience must make a booking on the nature reserve’s website. If there are no slots available, you can submit your contact information on the website, and the organisers will contact you when they release their next schedule.

Image credits: WWF Hong Kong

The Geminids are considered the best annual meteor shower to view in Hong Kong as the meteors are slow-moving and have a high zenithal hourly rate of 150 — the number of meteors observers could see in an hour during the peak of a meteor shower, if viewing conditions are ideal. It is also unusual as it is caused by an asteroid instead of a comet, its parent body being the 3200 Phaethon.

This year, the shower is active from December 4-20, but observers will be able to see the most meteors this week in remote areas with an unobstructed view and low light pollution. Viewers will not need a telescope during this time as, according to the Hong Kong Space Museum, meteors are better observed with the naked eye.

The peak of the Geminids will come just after the new moon on December 13, which means that the sky will be dark enough to view the meteors. Space Museum authorities suggest using a star map to locate the radiant — the celestial point where the meteors appear to originate — and a red torch to help spot the meteors better. They also recommend that viewers take a deck chair and a sleeping bag or blanket to make themselves comfortable.

The Hong Kong Science Museum will also livestream the shower on its YouTube channel, from 9am-11pm on December 14, for those who cannot watch the event outdoors.

Header image credits: Danny Leung via Flickr

In addition, the three red pandas currently at the park — Tai Shan, Cong Cong, and Rou Rou — who are on loan from Mainland China, will remain in the city for another 20 years as part of the agreement. Li Zi, the fourth red panda who was also part of the group that arrived in the city in 2009, passed away from heart complications in 2013.

The star attractions at Ocean Park Hong Kong are its giant pandas — Ying Ying & Le Le — who recently turned 18 years old. The park was also home to two older pandas named An An and Jia Jia, but both passed away due to health issues. There is no word on whether Ocean Park will get any additional giant pandas, especially since Ying Ying and Le Le have not yet produced any offspring.

Earlier this year, the park opened a new animal exhibit area called Sloth and Friends Studio, at which visitors can meet two of the park’s sloths — Sonic and Ying Mok — as well as ball pythons, macaws, and kinkajous.

Header image credits: Tango Chan via WikiCommons

The list — which was compiled after more than 530,000 Hong Kong residents and tourists voted for their picks — includes some of the city’s most iconic reservoirs and peaks, as well as several other natural wonders across the territory. 

High Island Reservoir, which is a geological heritage site, is the only part of Hong Kong Global Geopark that is accessible on foot, and the only place where one can touch its famed hexagonal rock columns. Tai O, called the Venice of Hong Kong, is a fishing village known for its stilt houses and unique cuisine. The standout feature of Tai Lam Chung Reservoir is the much-photographed Thousand Islands Lake.

Tai Mo Shan is the highest peak in Hong Kong, and is an inactive volcano that dates all the way back to the Jurassic period. It is located in Tai Mo Shan Country Park and provides panoramic views of the New Territories. Sunset Peak, the highest elevation on Lantau Island, is the No. 10 wonder on the list.

Sharp Island finds a place on this list for its unusual features, most notably the natural tombolo accessible only during low tide that connects the main island with an islet named Kiu Tau, while the Shing Mun Reservoir has everything from hiking trails and paperbark trees, to World War II relics and butterflies.

Ha Pak Nai is a wetland area in the SAR known for its mangroves, migratory bird population, and picturesque mudflats. The scenic island of Tung Ping Chau is a popular spot in Hong Kong for its unique rock formations, while The Tai Tong Sweet Gum Woods is the go-to place in the territory to revel in colourful autumn scenery, and is a favourite among photographers for its contrast between the red leaves of the sweet gum trees and green foliage of the surrounding evergreen trees.

Header image credits: Leung Cho Pan via Canva

According to posts on the Kadoorie Farm’s social media pages, the study dates back to 2015, when its scientists began studying DNA samples taken during pangolin wildlife seizures and discovered that, “a small group of pangolin scale samples did not match with any known pangolin species when comparison was made with global databases.”

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At the time, the Kadoorie scientists could not verify whether the 27 samples they analysed were from a new species as international reference DNA data was not complete for pangolins. However, in 2020, a team from the Yunnan University in China also discovered similar DNA data from seized pangolin scales in Yunnan.

Research teams from the Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden and Yunnan University decided to work together to unravel the mystery behind this suspected new species. “The DNA results and physical characteristics of samples suggested that the scales belonged to a new Asian pangolin, which has been conveniently named the Asian ‘mystery’ pangolin (Manis mysteria),” according to Kadoorie officials.

There are eight known species of pangolin, all of which are protected under national and international laws. Three of them — the Sunda Pangolin, the Chinese Pangolin (native to Hong Kong), and the Philippine Pangolin — are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The other five species are classified as either vulnerable or endangered.

To help reduce the extinction risk for the species, Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden entered a partnership with Hong Kong’s Fauna Conservation and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. Under this agreement, the farm’s scientists receive samples of every pangolin consignment seized in Hong Kong for future research. This initiative helped with the discovery the new mystery Asian pangolin species.

Header image credits: Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden via Facebook

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has a typhoon signal and rainstorm warning system by which it keeps Hongkongers updated about the latest weather warnings. It usually gives residents a few days’ notice about severe weather. Read on to know how you can prepare for a typhoon, whether you’re in the city or heading out for a trip in the summer.

How to prepare for a typhoon when you’re in the city

Use the following checklist when you’re prepping for a typhoon:

• Take care of outdoor furniture: Bring any outdoor or balcony furniture inside. This applies to everything from clothes stands to lawn furniture.
• Do a garden check: If you have trees in your garden, trim any overgrown branches so they don’t break off and fly into windows during a storm.
• Stock up on food and essentials: It isn’t advisable to step out during a typhoon, especially a severe one. Do a grocery run a couple of days earlier and pick up everything you’ll need to ride the storm out. Don’t rely on delivery services as they’ll probably be suspended.
• Be ready for leaks: Keep lots of newspaper, towels or anything absorbent handy in case your windows or balcony doors spring leaks.
• Prepare for power outages: Pack an emergency kit with a flashlight and first-aid essentials. Charge your devices and power banks, and get a portable WiFi router, especially if you’re working from home.
• Clear your roof and balcony drains: Remove any leaves that cover drains and move anything that could prevent water from flowing into them.
• Secure boats: If you live in a houseboat, consider checking into a hotel or staying at a friend’s place. Other boat owners should ensure their vessels are securely moored.

How to prepare your home for a typhoon when you’re travelling

Here are some extra precautions you can take before you leave the city on holiday:

• Check the house for potential leaks: Seal and waterproof any windows or glass doors that are prone to leaks. Place towels or any other absorbent material on the floor near these places. Move furniture and electrical equipment away from these areas.
• Lock and bolt balcony and garden doors: While lower-level homes may escape window breaks, high winds can still blow doors open.
• Use glass protection film on your windows: Taping windows before a typhoon is a common practice in Hong Kong, but it’s safer to use glass protection film during a severe storm, especially for an apartment in a high-rise building.
• Empty your fridge and turn it off: Don’t rely on a post-trip freezer food stash for your meals after your return to the city. Clear out your fridge and turn it off in the event of a power outage during a typhoon.

You can monitor the path of a typhoon on the HKO website or on its app, whether you’re in the city or abroad. You can also use other weather websites (and their corresponding apps) like Windy for a weather forecast visualisation or AccuWeather for district-wise updates. If you need help during a typhoon or heavy rains, call any of the emergency numbers on this list.

Header image credits: He Jun Ran via Canva