Enjoy the Most Beautiful Landscape in Asia at Dragon’s Back

Enjoy the Most Beautiful Landscape in Asia at Dragon’s Back

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Enjoy the Most Beautiful Landscape in Asia at Dragon’s Back

Dragon’s Back refers to the path rolling along the ridges from Shek O Peak to Wan Cham Shan. The hike on Dragon’s Back takes only about an hour to go from To Tei Wan to Chai Wan, and is a gentle and easy walk with beautiful views of Shek O, Tai Long Wan and Tung Lung Island. The trail was also named the “Best Urban Hike in Asia” by Time Magazine back in 2004.
To get to the starting point, take bus 9 at Shau Kei Wan MTR Station to To Tei Wan. The trail is easy to find. Simply follow the signs to Tai Tam Gap till you reach the end point at Chai Wan. Hikers in good physical conditions can turn to Tai Long Wan near the end of the trail and take bus 9 at Shau Kei Wan to leave.
Shortly after departure and after walking past the trees and forests, you will find yourself at the ridge which provides a wide open view of Shek O village, Shek O beach and Shek O Golf Club
Ng Fan Chau
Shek O beach
Looking back at D'Aguilar Peninsula
The path surrounded by brushes on both side looks like a tunnel
The summit is within reach
Residential area in the southern Hong Kong Island can be seen on the other side of the ridge
Tai Long Wan comes into view after passing Shek O beach and the forest. Beautiful coastline can be seen from the top of the hill with big waves washing the shallow beach
After Tai Long Wan we can see Tung Lung Island in the distance. The weather was not that good on the day of our visit, resulting in high lighting contrast between the pale sky and the foreground elements (islands and sea). Photo using the foreground as proper exposure will result in an over-exposed sky. Conversely, the foreground will look under-exposed when the sky is properly exposed.
Photo without using filter. The foreground maintains proper exposure but the sky is over-exposed and lack of details
Since the dynamic range of digital camera is very limited when compared to that of the human eye, when photographing subjects with high lighting contrast we need to fix the photo in post-editing or using a filter. The former way is easy and requires only lowering the exposure value of the highlight areas. However, due to the limitation in dynamic range of digital camera, we cannot adjust it to a large extent. The latter way is to use a Graduated Neutral Density (GND) Filter to limit the amount of light entering for the highlight areas, preventing over-exposure and thus areas of solid white. This can retain more details in the photo and provide greater freedom to adjust the photo in post-editing.
A square GND filter which requires a holder to attach in the front of the lens
Photo with GND filter used. The exposure of the sky area is decreased to reproduce the original blue color. The gradual effect of the filter also reproduces the sky in different hues of blue
Walk downhill after seeing Tung Lung Island. From here, you can either turn left to go along the direction of Tai Tam Gap and leave, or turn right to continue walking to Tai Long Wan
The road to the right will go to Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution. We should turn left and take the stairs down
When we reach Shek O Road, take bus 9 back to Shau Kei Wan or continue walking to Chai Wan via Cape Collinson Crematorium
The cemetery and Chai Wan in the distance
Turn left to the Crematorium and leave
You can continue walking downhill at Fei Tsui Road or take buses to other destinations in Hong Kong Island or Tiu Keng Leng
The Dragon’s Back trail is a nice and easy trail for family and can be done in an hour or so. It is also a good destination for photo lovers to enjoy an easy walk and take pictures of the beautiful scenery!
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