Wandering Aidan Miniseries, Episode 3

Welcome to episode 3 of the Wandering Aidan Miniseries, written so that nobody will have an excuse to ask me about Hong Kong! Today's episode is "Geography and Wildlife".

I'll cover geography first. Hong Kong is actually surprisingly hilly- which makes the ridiculous amount of skyscrapers and civilization somewhat odd. The people of the island have learned how to preserve and take care of the slopes. For instance, many hills- mostly the ones near roads- are glazed over with concrete to prevent erosion (by the way, it's not nearly as ugly as it sounds. The hills still have a refreshingly natural feel to them). The hills are even assigned caretakers, who make sure that the hill is stable and that water is flowing properly through the drainage tubes. This is why most hills have small plaques with numbers on them: so that caretakers can easily track and identify them.

Fun Fact:
If you were to glance at a map of Hong Kong, you might be surprised at how much blank green space there is. Look closer, and you'll see that these are often marked "country park", or "natural park", or something along those lines. These areas may sound like fun places to play, but these "parks" are actually large chunks of sheer mountain. At least the mountains are thick with trees, so the "park" label has some justification.

This shows how mountainous Hong Kong is. Notice that there are three parts. The island on the lower right is Hong Kong Island. This can be considered the main part of Hong Kong, and it is where most people (including us!) live. The island on the lower left is Lantau. Though it is bigger than the main island, it is mostly only notable for housing Hong Kong's main airport and Disneyland.  Finally, the large chunk connected to the mainland is mostly the New Territories, with Kowloon at the part closest to Hong Kong Island. Kowloon is the place that we have visited- most recently for the laser light show- and is what I am usually talking about when I describe the mainland.

Fun Fact:

There are 263 islands larger than 500 square meters in Hong Kong.

This picture is centered around just Hong Kong Island, though a few tendrils of the mainland are visible on the right. All of the green blobs are country parks.

A view from our balcony (usually we see the beach, but we can see this if we look sharply left). The mountain in the distance is a good example of a country park. Not all parks are totally unusable, despite their appearance; some have hiking trials snaking up their sides.

The mountains continue behind our building, forming a cozy alcove as they shield us from the city. This is the view from the window out back from our apartment.

A sample of mountainous roads. The slopes are no match for the citizens of Hong Kong!

                                   

Next up is wildlife. I'll give you the report.

Wildlife Report

(Man, it's been a while since I've done one of these!)

Dogs
Okay, they're not exactly wild- but if they were, they would be the most prominent wildlife here. The promenade, a large brick path by the sea, is swarming with dogs and their owners at dawn and dusk.
(photo found online)

Wild Cats
These adorable felines are found on and near the promenade. Their appearance suggests that they were once domesticated, but perhaps escaped. They mostly come out in the evenings, and retreat whenever someone approaches, so they're not a common sight.

Fun Fact:
Shortly after this photo was taken, one kitten leaped out of the bushes, swatted the other one in the face, then darted back in.

Barking Deer
Officially called the muntjac, or muntiacini, the barking deer is native to Southern Asia . They can be found in the "parks" of Hong Kong. We rarely hike there- mainly because of the heat- so we have yet to come across one.
(photo found online)

Fun Fact:These are the oldest known deer in existence.

Butterflies
Butterflies, like the tailed jay seen here, are also frequent visitors of the promenade. There are 235 species residing here in Hong Kong.
(photo found online)

…And those are just a few of the animals found here. There are also a few rarer animals, like porcupines and pangolins.

This, in case you were wondering, is a pangolin.

(photo found online)

Hopefully we'll be able to catch a glimpse of one of these dragon-like creatures while we're here. Like I said before, the weather has prevented us from exploring the parks and wetlands of Hong Kong, but now that it's cooling off, we might seek out some exotic animals one day.

Thanks for reading!