Biker cove

The following article originally appeared in TravelWeekly Australia

Hong Kong is much more than a big bustling metropolis; it also has some of Asia's finest hiking trails and soft adventure hotspots. Justin Wastnage recently donned a bike helmet and took to the cycle path to find out

Cantopop, the saccharine monotonal pop music that Hong Kong has made its own, is an acquired taste. Yet few of my fellow riders along the stretch of the Shing Mun River that leads out into Tide Cove seem to share my view. For unlike the French, who stereotypically place a freshly baked baguette in their bicycle baskets, Hong Kongers like to use the wire frame to hold a music player. Mobile phones, MP3 players with speakers dangling and even an old-fashioned ghetto blaster were all pressed into action in the cacophony of competing cantopop classics.
I had picked up a bike at Sha Tin, the high-rise development that is firmly ensconced within most visitors' perceptions of Hong Kong. However, Sha Tin is also the start of some 18km of cycle paths that lead almost up to the border with mainland China. As the Shing Mun petered out into the cove, known locally as Sha Tin Hoi, the notions of Hong Kong being a city of hustle and bustle started to peter out too.
<[stk 1]>My guide, Fred, had clearly not been on a bicycle ride for 20 years. I darted off at every twist and turn, only to look around to see him struggling with the gears, brakes and general balance. Once I weaved my way back to his side, he told me of the 200 islands that make up Hong Kong. Only one, Hong Kong Island, was formally conquered by the British. The rest were all the New Territories leased to Britain before famously being handed back in 1997 when the lease expired.
Most of the New Territories are still relatively natural. There are even some uninhabited islands where cars and people are banned, Fred tells me between wheezes. Few people think of Hong Kong as a countryside destination, he says, but deep inside the New Territories there are hiking trails, waterfalls, wooded ravines and sandy bays that are all relatively deserted.
The Sha Tin cycle path is not one of these undiscovered natural gems. Being a Sunday in August, the two-way track is packed full of leisurely families pedalling their way around. In search of tranquillity, I press Fred onwards past the crowds and up to the mouth of the Pacific Ocean. Here was where the fortunes of the opium trade were once made and lost in epic gunship battles, he says.
Nature is also close at hand on the island itself. Thousands take the Peak Tram every week and the Peninsula Hotel group (which incidentally owns the tram) would prefer if everyone took advantage of its newly built viewing platform and adjoining amusement arcade. A far more rewarding, if slightly more strenuous option is to take the Peak Circle Walk around the top of the mountain. Starting off along Lugard Road, the track narrows as it gets further away from the funicular terminus and nature starts encroaching.
Hong Kong is a tropical city, although you'd never know from the air conditioned malls, but up here you can see the vines and lush forest trying to reclaim the real estate. Signs posted around the 3.5km walk tell you about the local flora and fauna, but modernity is still the real drawcard: views of the city skyline from 400 metres above are worth stopping for, especially around dusk. As I stroll around, some power walkers and joggers zoom past on morning constitutionals. Thankfully, each of their iPods is playing their choice of music for their ears only.