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Aldrich Bay in Shau Kei Wan was recorded during the Hong Kong Island Coastal Trail Mapping Event by Jasmine Zeng. Participants documented their favourite places along the 65km route. Photo: Jasmine Zeng

Hong Kong Island coastal trail: 200 teams map favourite places, hidden treasures and route’s missing links

  • More than 200 teams took part in a Hong Kong Island Coastal Trail Mapping Event to document popular and less well known spots on the 65km route
  • The pick of their photos and stories will be combined in a community map, and details of parts of the route not yet walkable handed to districts
Wellness

With Covid-19 throwing a spanner in travel plans, the idea of exploring one’s backyard has never been so appealing. And a community-driven mapping project is helping Hongkongers do just that.

From December 2020 to January 2021, more than 200 teams took part in the Hong Kong Island Coastal Trail Mapping Event, with participants documenting their favourite places and stories along the 65km route around the island.

The event was divided into eight stages, from steep climbs to flat urban harbourside walks, with each stage rated from easy to moderate in difficulty (stage 1, for example, was a 7.5km Western Harbour Walk with a one-star rating, while the 8.5km Dragon’s Back Walk had a maximum five-star difficulty).

Organised by Designing Hong Kong, an environmental NGO, TrailWatch, a hiking and conservation app, iDiscover, a neighbourhood guides app, and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, the event’s aim was to create a community map with an emphasis on experiences and not on speed.

This shot of Sai Wan in Kennedy Town by Candy Ho was submitted for the new app. Photo: Candy Ho

“Walking the entire coastal trail makes you realise the need for accessible public space in the city,” says Ester van Steekelenburg, co-founder of iDiscover, a charity that runs community mapping projects around Asia.

In November, all four Hong Kong Island district councils agreed on a plan to create a walkable 65km route around the island.

Discover Hong Kong’s charming woodland walks

In line with Covid restrictions, the event was low-key: no crowds, banners, or T-shirts. Instead, Van Steekelenburg says, participants received instructions online and walked with their own group, in their own time, at their own pace. She says some ran the whole trail in one day, while others split the journey into smaller, leisurely walks.

More than 1,500 photos and stories were submitted, with the best to be condensed into an illustrated map on the iDiscover app.

While the Central harbour and harbourfronts in Wan Chai and Kennedy Town were popular places for taking snapshots, off-the-radar places, such as the steep cliffs at Cape Collinson on the easternmost point of Hong Kong Island, and a sanctuary near the waterfront in Wah Fu, Aberdeen, that is filled with thousands of donated shrines and deity figures, also caught participants’ attention.

An image called Waiting for the Catch – North Point by Irene Jackson that was submitted for the app. Photo: Irene Jackson

Van Steekelenburg says participants shared detailed accounts of their walks, pointing out suggestions for alternative routes and inconsistent signposting, and providing historic references, old maps and even postcards.

“One family walked the entire trail with their two young children, another group road-tested the dog friendliness along the trail, and there was one participant who walked the urban sections of the trail by night,” she says.

“We loved how people make the waterfront work for them, and saw some great examples of intuitive and ingenious solutions that city planners can learn from: community-created ladders, benches, sheds and ponds for fishing, gardening, exercising and swimming.”

Paul Zimmerman, chief executive of Designing Hong Kong and a district councillor, said the event helped to rediscover and reinstate lost urban and countryside trails. Photo: Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman, chief executive of Designing Hong Kong and a district councillor, said the event was a way to rediscover and reinstate lost urban and countryside trails.

Zimmerman says much of the proposed path exists, but about 20 “missing links” need to be fixed.

“We identify improvement works required – without pouring concrete – and look for help from government departments. The strong turnout and the community-led map will help us find support for fixing missing links and bringing the Hong Kong Island Coastal Trail closer to the waterfront,” said Zimmerman.
Zimmerman’s walking route around Hong Kong Island. Image: Paul Zimmerman
For more information on the Hong Kong Island Coastal Trail, visit www.coastaltrail.hk.
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