SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 1977
POPULAR SAI KUNG COUNTRY PARK HAS UNSPOILT BEAUTY *****
SA! KUNG COUNTRY PARK, THE LARGEST, THE MOST REMOTE AND PROBABLY THE MOST SCENIC AND UNSPOILT OF ALL THE AREAS SO FAR PROPOSED FOR HONG KONG'S COUNTRY PARKS HAS BEEN GAZETTED FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION.
ALREADY THE POPULARITY OF THE PROPOSED PARK IS SUCH THAT IN MAY THIS YEAR, WITH THE HOT WEATHER APPROACHING AND WHEN MOST PEOPLE SWITCH TO WATER RECREATION, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE VISITING THE AREA WAS STILL OVER 100,000.
IN THE EIGHT MONTHS FROM NOVEMBER LAST YEAR A TOTAL OF 654,700 VISITORS SOUGHT THE PLEASURES OF THE RURAL SURROUNDINGS AND ENVIRONMENT HERE, WITH 130,000 BEING RECORDED IN NOVEMBER 1976 ALONE.
SAI KUNG COUNTRY PARK STRETCHES FROM THE AREA OF THREE FATHOMS COVE EASTWARDS UP TO THE EDGE OF THE SEA, AND FROM HOI HA IN THE NORTH TO HIGH ISLAND IN THE SOUTH,
IT RETAINS EVEN TODAY AN IMPRESSION OF ISOLATION FROM THE REST OF HONG KONG, AND OF SOMETHING DIFFERENT. BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR THE SAI KUNG PENINSULA WAS VIRTUALLY ANOTHER WORLD, REMOVED FROM THE CITY PROPER. ACCESS WAS MAINLY BY SEA OR BY FOOT BECAUSE THERE WERE NO ROADS, NO BUSES AND FEW VISITORS.
THE VILLAGERS FOUND IT BURDENSOME TO TREK THE SEVERAL MILES TO THE CITY AND SO GROUPS OF VILLAGES AND SMALL HAMLETS GREW UP ALONG THE COAST, WITH BOATS AS THE MAIN FORM OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THEM, AND WITH SEA FISHING AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THE IR LIVELIHOOD.
HIRAMS HIGHWAY (ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT PART OF THE COUNTRY PARK) WAS BUILT IN 1945 BY THE BRITISH FORCES. IT WAS THE FIRST MAJOR ROAD PROVIDED FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE PENINSULA, AND IT LINKED THE WOODED SAI KUNG COUNTRY TO THE CITY.
DETAILS OF THE HISTORY OF THE AREAS THAT LIE WITHIN SAI KUNG COUNTRY PARK ARE SPARSE AND LARGELY UNKNOWN, AN OFFICER OF THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT REMARKED, BUT THERE WERE PROBABLY SETTLEMENTS IN THE AREA FROM EARLY TIMES.
HE ADDED THAT CERTAIN PARTS ARE SO EMPTY THAT, IN A DAY'S HIKE, NOT A SINGLE PERSON IS ENCOUNTERED EVEN TODAY.
BUT AT OTHER PLACES, VILLAGES AS OLD AS 200 YEARS WITH TEMPLES ARE TO BE FOUND, MAINLY INHABITED BY OLD MEN AND WOMEN. THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS HAVE GONE TO WORK IN THE URBAN AREAS, OR HAVE GONE ABROAD TO EARN A BETTER LIVING.
THE PARK COVERS AN AREA OF ABOUT 7,500 HECTARES (29 S. MILES) INCLUDING THE WATER SURFACE OF HIGH ISLAND RESERVOIR WHEN IT IS COMPLETED. THIS MEANS THIS PARK AREA 15 KEARLY TAICE THE SIZE OF SHING MUN, LION ROCK, KAM SHAN, TAI TAM AND ABERDEEN COUNTRY PARKS PUT TOGETHER.
THERE ARE