HONG KONG - SAI KUNG PENINSULA

Sai Kung Peninsula is the scenic gem of the New Territories. In no other part of Hong Kong is there such variety — or, except on Lantau, such sharp rugged peaks or so impressive a coastline. Almost the entire peninsula is enclosed in two Country Parks, with their windswept uplands and ocean coasts. Abandoned fields and hamlets lie across the region, recalling the centuries of village life and agricultural toil.

Hiking up to a Sai Kung summit, winter-brown grasses cover the hills. To the west, the saddle-like ridge of Ma On Shan frames the lowering sun. To the north ranges stretch out towards a sharp conical summit. Far below, late afternoon light casts a sheen over High Island Reservoir.

As late as the 1960s the Sai Kung peninsula remained largely removed from urban Hong Kong. Its isolation ended in the 1970s, with the building of High Island Reservoir and when Sai Kung became a commuter town. However, in the peninsula's distant parts the country is even emptier than before. The Sai Kung uplands and coasts were always thinly settled and, from the 1970s on, countless villagers left their ancestral lands in favor of easier city lives.

Today much of the peninsula is wild and challenging, little changed from the place a naturalist described during the 1930s: "Sea and land meet in a tangle of headlands, inlets and islands¡K Here and there is a fishing village in a sheltered bay, but apart from these you may go for miles without seeing anything of man's handiwork."

Widely scattered across the uplands and peninsula are abandoned villages of Hakka clans, Hong Kong's so-called "guest people" who settled here about 300 years ago. Some hamlets still have a few elderly inhabitants, but many are totally deserted. Old village paths traverse the region, and many of the Country Park trails follow the inter-village routes.

Many of the abandoned "village valleys" in the Sai Kung region deserve protection. With their scenic surroundings and rural heritage, these places have great potential to establish "agricultural and ecological heritage" centers. These could be used to preserve, and bring alive, the areas' scenic, agricultural and ecological riches.

The Hakka farmers — through real need, over many generations — cut down the primeval trees. But, for both spiritual and practical reasons, they also nurtured feng shui woods. Today, these provide storehouses of native species which, with the end of agriculture and hillside fuel gathering, are now spreading. This is especially so across the western peninsula, where the villagers keenly assisted the government's reforestation efforts. The resulting improved soil conditions now help native seedlings to take root.

Exploring the Sai Kung peninsula there is always more of "wild" Hong Kong to see. On clear days, from the high points one can just see Victoria Peak. But out in these wilds the city seems a world away. Unfortunately, my association with Sai Kung is always tied down to the green and the fairway, the only reason where my partner will ever visit the Sai Kung off-island. Sometimes I wonder if man-made beauty really surpasses the natural beauty that God has created. Apart from that, its coastal seafood restaurant boast astounding variety of seafood. If one is a diver, it's better to keep to the less authentic seafood choices. I for one would hate to see the Moray Eel or the Potato Cod being killed.