Tai Tam Country Park
Tai Tam Country Park and Reservoir is a famous country park found in eastern Hong Kong Island. It covers 1/5 of the land mass of Hong Kong Island, making it the largest country park on Hong Kong Island.When you visit Tai Tam Country Park you’ll notice how peaceful and close to nature you feel out here. You’ll find all kinds of trees, flowers, animals and hiking trails in the park. The coolest part about Tai Tam Country Park is that it’s actually located right in the middle of the fast paced city of Hong Kong. So even though you’re out enjoying nature, the rest of the city is very close. This gives a very interesting contrast between the urban and non-urban areas of Hong Kong Island. And at certain points throughout the park you can see wonderful views of the city.
The Chinese words “Tai Tam” means “big pools” in English. This refers to the 4 water reservoirs found inside the park. These 4 water reservoirs are:
-Tai Tam Upper Reservoir
-Tai Tam Byewash Reservoir
-Tai Tam Intermediate Reservoir
-Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir
Together these 4 reservoirs are known as the Tai Tam Group. They were all built between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Once all 4 reservoirs were built, a memorial stone was made in 1918 to commemorate the completion of the project known as the Tai Tam Reservoir Scheme. These reservoirs where the main water storage facilities for Hong Kong back then.
Since 1918 several other reservoirs have been built all around the city to help with water storage in Hong Kong. Today the Tai Tam Reservoirs are a famous tourist attraction.
As you walk through the park you may see old items from World War 2. Some of these items include forts, gun magazines and shells, and tools used for camping.
Certain areas inside the park have picnic tables, benches, barbeque spots, and areas for children to play. An outing to the Tai Tam Country Park can be a great day for people of all ages.
There are some very scenic hiking trails found out here. Two of the more popular hiking trails include the Dragon’s Back Hiking Trail and the Tai Tam Waterworks Heritage Trail.
The Dragon’s Back Hiking Trail can be found between Wan Cham Shan and Shek o Peak. This hiking trail is very popular among tourists because of its great views and low level of difficulty. Depending on how fast you hike, you could finish around 2-3 hours. The Dragon’s Back Hiking Trail was named the “best urban hike in Asia” by Time Magazine.
The Tai Tam Waterworks Heritage Trail goes past 21 historic waterworks structures. These structures are declared monuments and would be quite interesting to anyone who likes learning about history. The hike spans 5 kilometres and takes approximately 2 hours to complete, depending on how fast you walk.
Jardine’s Lookout is a popular lookout spot found on the top of a mountain in the north western section of Tai Tam Country Park. From Jardine’s Lookout you can see great views of Hong Kong, namely Happy Valley and Causeway Bay. It’s definitely worth seeing for yourself just for the sights of the busy city from a quiet lookout point.
Jardine’s Lookout is a very expensive area to live in. A lot of the homes here are detached houses on very desirable pieces of land, which is quite rare in Hong Kong. There are also some high-rise and low-rise apartments, but any of these places will be more expensive than most of Hong Kong.
There is no MTR that goes out to Tai Tam Country Park and Reservoir, so you’ll have to take a bus or taxi to get here. Two buses that will get you here are bus #14 from Sai Wan Ho MTR station and bus #6 from Central MTR station.