Before talking about hiking, I want to talk about Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong.
Here's what happened: On Cathay Pacific flight CX987 on May 21st, a passenger asked the flight attendant for a blanket in Mandarin, and the flight attendant said, "If you can't speak English, I can't give you a blanket." This discriminatory service attitude has caused the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Carrie Lam, to say, "This is a serious incident that hurts the feelings of Hong Kong and mainland compatriots."
Personally, I think this incident is similar to the BMW MINI ice cream incident, but the discrimination by Cathay Pacific Airways has reached another level. After Hong Kong's return from its former colonial status, it has experienced many political issues, and the emergence of this discrimination has shattered the previously believed harmony, causing a public outcry.
The issue of "discrimination" has always been in our blood: some people in Beijing discriminate against people from other regions, some graduate students discriminate against undergraduate students, and some people who are 1.8 meters tall discriminate against those who are 1.7 meters tall. It is easy to chant slogans of openness and inclusiveness, but how many people actually practice it? People tend to unconsciously establish a sense of psychological superiority through discriminatory behavior, thus gaining a strange self-confidence.
I have a graduate degree, so I know more than you, who only have an undergraduate degree. Is that so? I may not have a higher education than you, but I have a Beijing hukou (household registration); I may not be as wealthy as you, but I have a house in Beijing... All of these are childish and ridiculous. Prejudice and discrimination are bugs in our way of thinking, but they also seem to be instinctual.
Okay, let's stop here. In summary: It's not right to worship foreigners, but it's still important to learn English. This applies to both individuals and the country. Now, let's talk about the experience of hiking this time. When I was studying in Hong Kong, I rarely participated in group activities. Many years later, when I returned to Hong Kong, the first thing I did was unexpectedly go hiking. However, fortunately, I did not encounter any discrimination while hiking in Hong Kong.
Originally, there was no plan to go hiking. After all, I hadn't been back for so many years, and I wanted to visit my school or eat something delicious. But I didn't realize that the day I returned was a public holiday, so I had half a day with nothing to do. I followed Li Buguai to this hiking trail that she had heard of but never been to before.
The most famous hiking trail in Hong Kong is, of course, the MacLehose Trail, but we didn't dare to challenge it yet, so we left it for next time. The MacLehose Trail is the first long-distance hiking trail in Hong Kong, which was opened on October 26, 1979, and named after the then Governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose. It is the longest hiking trail in Hong Kong, with a total length of 100 kilometers divided into 10 sections. The MacLehose Trail has 200 distance markers, approximately one every 500 meters. It starts at Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung (at the intersection of Tai Mong Tsai Road and Pak Tam Road, where there is a starting point sign), and passes through Sai Kung East, Sai Kung West, Ma On Shan, Lion Rock, Golden Hill, Shing Mun, Tai Mo Shan, and Tai Lam Country Park, with Tuen Mun as the endpoint (under the Light Rail bridge at the intersection of Castle Peak Road and Ping To Road).
The endpoint of the MacLehose Trail is in Tuen Mun, near the Tsing Shan Temple Trail. It is also above the starting point of our hike.
We, a group of two people, took the MTR to Tuen Mun Station and then navigated to "Hong Kong Youth College" and chose the Tuen Mun campus, located at 18 Tsing Wan Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories. It's about a little over 1 kilometer walk from the subway. When you arrive at the Youth College, you will see a pedestrian bridge. On the side of the pedestrian bridge, there is a gentle slope. On the right side of the slope is a municipal park, and on the left side is the college's teaching building. On the way, we went to the park to use the restroom and found that the public hygiene in Hong Kong is really good. Even the restrooms in remote parks are as clean as those in shopping malls.
At the end of the slope, there is a cross street. Cross the road and turn left to continue uphill. After walking about a hundred meters, you will see a road sign that says "Tsing Shan Temple Trail". Seeing the road sign, you know that you are on the right path, and then you just need to follow the road signs all the way up.
Tsing Shan Temple has a long history, dating back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty 1,500 years ago. It is the first of the three major ancient temples in Hong Kong, and the "Beidu Zen Master Temple" is probably the oldest temple in Hong Kong. Some historical records indicate that this is the birthplace of Buddhism in Hong Kong. It was rebuilt in 1926 and renamed Tsing Shan Zen Monastery.
You may not know that this place is now part of Tuen Mun City in Hong Kong's administrative division, but originally it belonged to Dongguan City.
"Guangzhou Map" records: "The mountain of Beidu is located in Tuen Mun, Dongguan, with a border of 38 li. According to legend, the Zen master of Beidu came to live in Tuen Mun, and that's how it got its name."
Starting from Tsing Shan Buddhist College at the foot of the mountain, we walked uphill all the way. The road was not far, but the slope was steep, which is not very visible in the photos. We were out of breath after a few steps, but fortunately, there were big trees providing shade, otherwise the hot and humid weather in Hong Kong would have made us heatstroke.
Continuing uphill, we passed many village houses along the way. It's worth noting that if you live in a commercial housing in Hong Kong, you only have a few tens of square meters, while village houses can at least have a yard, which is considered a quiet and good choice in Hong Kong. It's quite nice.
Along the way, we passed a large archway, which was said to be built in 1929. Do you see the words "Beidu" on the left side of the archway? It matches what was mentioned earlier. The roof ridge of the archway tells the story of the Investiture of the Gods, mainly about Nezha and Lei Zhenzi.
We saw a stone table at this archway and rested there for a while. There was a cool breeze blowing from time to time, and a sip of ice-cold cola instantly refreshed us. A few more steps forward, and we could see the gate of Tsing Shan Temple!
Climbing the steps, an ancient temple appeared before us. Occasionally, there were people exercising and hiking passing by from the side of the gate, which made the solemnity of this ancient temple even more apparent. After entering Tsing Shan Temple from the mountain gate, I found that it was slightly different from mainland temples. What puzzled me the most was why there was a huge statue of Yue Lao (the God of Marriage). Yue Lao doesn't belong to Buddhism or Taoism, but rather a character in Chinese folklore. Why is there a statue here? Is it to provide a worship object for believers seeking marriage? I really didn't understand... But seeing the continuous stream of incense, I knew that this was a place where Hong Kong people strongly believed in seeking marriage. Hong Kong people always oscillate between extreme trends and extreme superstitions. For example, even the big shots in financial technology can't avoid burning incense and praying to Buddha before the market opens.
We visited each open temple in turn, and at the foot of the mountain, there was the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, while on the mountain, there was this peaceful Buddhist sanctuary, which was truly rare. After coming out of the main hall, there was a small path that continued uphill.
This path had many people exercising and hiking because we went up in the afternoon, so most of the people we encountered were coming down. We were afraid of getting lost, so we asked a lady at the intersection. She should be a local Hong Kong resident, and she helped us with directions in Mandarin, although not very proficient but with enthusiasm. She saw that we didn't have professional hiking gear and reminded us that the upper part was very steep and advised us not to attempt it easily. However, it was through the hardships of asceticism that Master Beidu was able to see the mountaintop in the face of obstacles and a long journey.
Afterwards, when we looked up information after descending the mountain, we learned that this trail is one of Hong Kong's four major hiking trails, spanning the three peaks of Tsing Shan (Beidu Mountain) and Yuen Tau Shan (Lingdu Mountain). The latter half of the trail is very challenging for the grip of hiking shoes due to the sandy and rocky terrain.
Because we had other plans in the evening, we walked a little further up and then turned back. On the way down the mountain, we had the opportunity to look back at the path we had taken, and it turned out that turning back is the shore!
Previous travel notes: