But before my two hiking buddies that day and I began our descent down, we first enjoyed the pavilion's peaceful surroundings and the views to be had from there -- and only then did we go down via a different route from the one we had taken to the upper area of the farm, one that offered up still more interesting sights at this often overlooked gem of a Hong Kong facility and attraction:-
View of Kwun Yam Shan and its surroundings from
the Kadoorie Brothers' Memorial Pavilion
(that's slightly different from the one I shared here! ;b)
A moon gate and path near the pavilion -- with part of
Tai Mo Shan in the background
Tangerines are among the fruits found on trees
at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden
I'm not sure what species of butterfly this is but
it's a beauty, don't you think?
At Signpost Corner, one can find out how far away
places as diverse as Tahiti, Teheran, Wan Chai
and the North Pole are from Kadoorie Farm :)
They may be called the Great Falls but they were
more trickle than genuine waterfall when we visited!
This photo doesn't do justice to how intimidatingly steep
were the steps beyond the "Please Do Not Enter" sign!
The mind boggles when seeing this sign... ;b
13 comments:
Two questions: 1) Did you try the tangerines or not allowed? 2) The snake drop off... is that for people who somehow manage to bag a snake at home and leave them there, or for people to drop off their pet snakes for baby sitting?
Hi "The Fragrant Harbour" --
Didn't try the tangerines. Wasn't about to pluck them from the trees!!
Re the Snake Drop Off: Hahahahaha re your second suggestion. I'm thinking it's more likely that it's for people to drop off snakes they find... and the Hong Kong police will then take these snakes and set them free far away from where there are (many) people.
http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/snakes-alive
But do people really know how to handle snakes? And they can slither back (eventually) to where they came from...
Hi again "The Fragrant Harbour" --
Maybe they're people who had pet snakes and don't want them any more? And re the snakes slithering back to where they came from: my thoughts exactly! Also yikes re there being (so) many snakes in the wilds of Hong Kong. No wonder I average a snake spotting every 10 hikes or so! :O
So there were no instructions near the "Snake Drop off" sign to explain how to handle a snake...? Isn't that kind of scary?
Hi once more "The Fragrant Harbour" --
No instructions that I could see. I guess that Snake Drop Off point is for people who know what it's all about!
To all who have been following the Snake Drop Off discussion --
A reader emailed me to tell me the following:-
certain types wild animals are sent there after they're captured in urban areas, so when the police (and AFCD) use a snake handler, a drop-off point is needed. To see a snake handler in action, see the following documentary from the 9-minute mark when apprentice Ho Cheuk-hing is introduced:
http://programme.rthk.hk/rthk/tv/programme.php?name=tv/hkce&d=2013-03-21&p=1981&e=211356&m=episode
I recommend watching the whole documentary if you've got the time. Really interesting!
The second pic caught my attention instantly; the 'moon gate' is like a big eye!
Hi Horsoon --
I'm glad to know that a picture in this photo-essay other than the one of the Snake Drop Off sign caught people's attention! ;b
Snake Drop Off? Somehow I thought it was a New Year thing!
Hi baroness radon --
Teehee -- no, and not just for the Year of the Snake either! ;b
The Moon Gate picture is lovely, I instantly thought of one of those mushy TVB romantic series, though I doubt I actually saw it in any of them.
And the waterfall is still quite impressive, with so little water one can really appreciate the beauty of the rocks.
Hi Diana --
Yeah, I doubt that the TVB crews would be bothered to go as far up Kadoorie Farm to shoot at that Moon Gate -- but yeah, one does see quite a few Moon Gates in Chinese TV shows and films.
And thanks for appreciating the waterfall and its rocks. :)
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