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By Root 636 0

large banyan tree, laden with coloured streamers of paper tied to oranges, in the village of Fong Ma Po to the southwest. The idea was to write your wish on a piece of paper, tie it to the citrus fruit and then throw it as high as you could up into the tree. If your fruit lodged in the branches, you were in luck – and the higher it went, the more chance there was of your wish coming true. But things got, er, out of hand just once too often, and in 2005, a week after the end of Chinese New Year, a large branch of the tree came crashing to the ground, dashing most punters’ wishes once and for all.

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TRANSPORT – TAI PO

Bus Bus 71K runs between the Tai Wo and Tai Po Market MTR East Rail stations.

Green Minibus For onward travel start at Tai Po Market MTR station or Heung Sze Wui St for bus 20K to San Mun Tsai; catch the bus at Tsing Yuen St for bus 25K to Ng Tung Chai (Tai Mo Shan).

MTR Take the MTR to Tai Po Market or Tai Wo East Rail stations.

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Focus switched to another tree nearby, which became the new arboreal oracle while the original was left to recover. However, this practice was soon stopped, too. In the name of conservation, wish makers can now only tie their wishing papers to Chinese-style wooden racks. You can still buy the wishing papers from vendors but you’re unlikely to find any oranges for sale. At least there’s a small Tin Hau temple nearby, replete with fortune-tellers, to compensate for your curtailed wish making.

To reach the tree catch bus 64K from the Tai Po Market MTR East Rail station and alight at Fong Ma Po.

TAI PO MARKET & MAN MO TEMPLE Map

Fu Shin St; 6am-8pm; Tai Wo

Not to be confused with the MTR East Rail station of the same name, this street-long outdoor wet market is a stone’s throw from the Hong Kong Railway Museum and is one of the busiest and most interesting markets in the New Territories. Towards the northern end of the same street, the double-hall Man Mo Temple ( 8am-6pm) is a centre of worship for the Tai Po area. It was founded in the late 19th century and, like the Man Mo Temple found in Sheung Wan ( Click here), it is dedicated to the gods of literature and of war.

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PLOVER COVE

Sleeping Click here

The area around Plover Cove Reservoir ( Map) is good hiking and cycling country, and well worth at least a full day’s exploring. The village of Tai Mei Tuk, the springboard for most of the activities in the Plover Cove area, is about 6km northeast of Tai Po Market MTR East Rail station.

It may be worthwhile getting a copy of Universal Publications’ Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, Clearwater Bay or else the Countryside Series map North-East & Central New Territories (see Click here).

Bicycles can be rented at Tai Mei Tuk at several locations, including Lung Kee Bikes ( 2662 5266; bicycle rental per day $20; 9.30am-6pm). A bicycle track along the coast runs from Tai Mei Tuk to Chinese University at Ma Liu Shui. Ting Kok Rd in Lung Mei village is also where you’ll find a row of popular restaurants (Click here). Adjacent to the car park is the Tai Mei Tuk Fish Farm (Click here), where you can try your luck angling for some freshwater fish.

The Plover Cove Country Park Visitor Centre ( Map; 2665 3413; 9.30am-4pm Sat, Sun & public holidays), a short distance further east from the car park on Ting Kok Rd, is where the Pat Sin Leng Nature Trail (see below) to Bride’s Pool starts.

PAT SIN LENG NATURE TRAIL Map

75K

This excellent (and easy) 4.4km-long trail, which should take from two to 2½ hours, leads from the Plover Cove Country Park Visitor Centre at Tai Mei Tuk and heads northeast for 4km to Bride’s Pool; there are signboards numbered 1 to 22, so there is little danger of getting lost. The elevation gain is only 300m, the scenery is excellent and the two waterfalls at Bride’s Pool are delightful, but the place gets packed on the weekend. You can either return to Tai Mei Tuk via Bride’s Pool Rd on foot or catch green minibus 20C, which stops at Tai Mei Tuk before carrying on to Tai Po Market MTR station. On Sunday and