Country Parks Appreciation Day #saveourcountryparks

A popular sentiment etched on a country park sign!

 

A panoramic view that shows how beautiful 

Hong Kong's country parks can be 

This tiny country park denizen tried to

hitch a ride on my glasses this afternoon! :O

  

Over the last few months, I've seen quite a few "CY 下台" slogans emblazoned on various surfaces in a number of Hong Kong country parks.  So numerous are these written demands for Leung Chun Ying (AKA CY Leung, and 689) to ha toi ("step down" in Cantonese) they must be the work of more than person.  And the number of hikers and other users of Hong Kong's country parks who aren't fans of the politician also known as "the wolf" surely has increased in the wake of his suggesting that some sections of Hong Kong's country parks be redesignated for other uses. 

 

While pretty much everyone who lives in Hong Kong would like to see more (affordable) housing come into being in the territory, I know of few people who think that what effectively are Hong Kong's green lungs should be sacrificed; this especially since many "brownfield" areas exist in the Big Lychee, as do old industrial buildings that could be re-zoned for residential use and sizable facilities that are not useful for the vast majority of Hong Kongers such as the Chief Executive's official country residence and a private golf course on government land which covers the same area as the town of Tsuen Wan!

 

To protest what many people see as a planned act of vandalism on the part of the government, an umbrella alliance calling itself Save Our Country Parks called for people to especially go out into the country parks today, take photos there and upload them onto social media.  In lieu of my not having an account on Facebook (yes, really, still!), Twitter or Instagram, this #saveourcountryparks blog post represents my particular contribution to the environmental alliance's inaugural "Country Parks Appreciation Day".

 

For the record: a friend and I were out in Tai Lam Country Park this afternoon and saw plenty of other people enjoying the green scenery and fresh air on offer at Hong Kong's second largest country park.  Although I normally prefer not to see too many people while out hiking, today was an exception -- and I also liked that those out appreciating what was on offer at Tai Lam Country Park this afternoon included children as well as adults of various ages, bicyclists and anglers as well as hikers, couples, family groups, groups of friends and solitary souls.