Over the Christmas break, we travelled to Hong Kong. On the top of our list of things to do was hiking the Dragon’s Back trail. When you think of Hong Kong, you may think of skyscrapers, crowds and shopping. However, Hong Kong is also the home of numerous hiking trails, beaches and grasslands. In fact, around 75% of land in Hong Kong is left undeveloped.
Because we were only in Hong Kong for a couple of weeks, we had to pick and choose our activities carefully. The Dragon’s Back is one of the most popular hikes in Hong Kong, and arguably one of the best as well for good reason. The views are amazing!
We hopped off a busy bus filled with hikers right at the trailhead. We hustled to get ahead of the crowd. We quickly passed through an alley of low-lying trees followed by an easy climb up some stairs. Once we broke through the trees, we were immediately rewarded with the views.
Because we obviously couldn’t take Rey to Hong Kong with us, we borrowed another dog for a few photos. Meet our new friend, Mocha!
We were surrounded with amazing views every direction we looked, all the way to the peak. This is where we stopped to snap a few more photos.
Once you start your descent, you get into more trees and covered trails. Although the shade was quite nice change, I found that the terrain became quite repetitive and boring. If I were to hike the Dragon’s Back again, I would probably turn around after the peak and hike back the way I came in.
However, we kept on trekking and eventually found ourselves at Big Wave Bay, a tiny surfing village. There was something very quaint about the village. There were shops renting surfboards, skimboards and paddleboards, retail stores with boardshorts and swimsuits, and cafes serving seafood and beer. There were quite a few surfers trying to catch waves even in December, so I can imagine that Big Wave Bay becomes quite the lively, bustling surfers’ hub come summer.
The great thing about the Dragon’s Back trail is that it’s quite accessible. You can get to the trailhead easily and it’s relatively easy. The only drawback is that it is so popular, that it is quite the crowded trail. This isn’t quite the hidden gem that we usually go for, but it was a great first hike in a new country.