Hong Lok Yuen
Hikers scaling Cloudy Hill along the Wilson Trail are greeted by an incongruous sight: nestled among the mountains is a suburban outpost of Spanish-style villas with terracotta roof tiles.
Hong Lok Yuen (which translates as 'happy healthy garden' or 'leisure garden') is a large-scale development of standalone homes built on land once owned by Li Fook-lam, a Guangdong military general after whom a Tai Po sports centre is named. The mountains behind Hong Lok Yuen apparently give it some of the best fung shui found in the New Territories and are particularly auspicious for generating money and power.
It seems to be working. The development is home to many doctors, dentists and other professionals. But the prevalence of cross-border licence plates indicates many of the biggest homes - up to 3,500 square feet, some with sizeable gardens - are owned by factory owners whose plants are just a short hop across the border.
The estate, just north of Tai Po, was developed in the 1980s by Clifford Wong Chun-fai and Canadian Overseas Development, the company behind the earlier Fairview Park, near Yuen Long. Hong Lok Yuen has 1,150 houses built on roads that demonstrate a distinct lack of imagination: they are numbered 1st Street through to 28th Street.
The village is known both for its 'unauthorised building works' - lavish entrance gates and Greek columns - and its many resident stars, such as actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, who no doubt appreciates the privacy given the rumours of her impending divorce from Nicholas Tse Ting-fung.
Wong died in 1987, soon after the first phase was completed. In 1991, Sun Hung Kai Properties took over management of the complex and its public areas. Pick the right Sunday and you'll be greeted by German shepherds and jackbooted security guards securing a perimeter for one of the Kwok brothers as he enjoys dim sum at the Hong Lok Yuen Country Club.
The logo of Hong Lok Yuen International School is five oranges on a tree, each of which represents one of Clifford Wong Chun-fai's children.
Around Hong Lok Yuen
1 Crowded out
Children attending Hong Lok Yuen International School mostly used to go on to King George V, in Kowloon Tong, for secondary school. But, faced with greater competition for places, in 2009, Hong Lok Yuen teamed up with two other primaries - Japanese International School and Kingston International School - to open its own 'through school', International College Hong Kong, in an old government building on the border.
2 Hanging out
Hong Lok Yuen Country Club takes all comers, not just estate residents, with a family membership costing HK$32,900 for locals and HK$37,800 for outsiders. That gets the 700 members access to its large swimming pool, five tennis courts and two squash courts. It also has a highly rated Chinese restaurant, Hong Lok Lau, and a less-loved international eatery, the Orangery.
3 Wishing on a tree
The most famous attractions near Hong Lok Yuen are the two wishing trees at the Tin Hau temple in Lam Tsuen. The temple dates back to about 1770, though it's been renovated several times. Visitors used to wrap auspicious messages around oranges and cast them into the banyans. But since a falling limb hurt two bystanders in 2005, replica trees have been used to receive visitors' wishes.
Legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah's home in Hong Lok Yuen was caught up in the scandal over illegal works, with Tong eventually agreeing to remove the extra floor on his rooftop.
Average house price HK$16 million for a 1,950 sq ft villa or HK$27 million for a 3,000 sq ft house (Kai Shing)
Average rent HK$40,000 for a 1,950 sq ft villa and up to HK$60,000 for a 3,000 sq ft property (Kai Shing)
Nearest shops A small 'town centre' with supermarket
Nearest ATM Town centre
Nearest MTR Tai Wo MTR is a 10-minute drive while Tai Po Market takes 15 minutes
