During recent visits to Hong Kong, we explored a gem of a park located near the Conrad Hotel, Shangri La Hotel, US and British Consulates, and the Pike Tram boarding point.  It’s name is not exciting – Hong Kong Park – but the park itself is quite amazing, especially if you have children.

The park has a lovely pond with fish and turtles, waterfalls, fountains, a tea house and Chinese tea pot museum, a greenhouse, an aviary, a Tai Chi Garden, an Observatory point, sports and squash centres, and a very nice children’s playground with age appropriate playing areas.  The park was built in the early 1990s and used to be the site that housed the British Army barracks.

The lake is a key aspect of the park and locals and businessmen and women taking a break for lunch are seen sitting on benches eating, reading, or enjoying the view.  On Sundays and holidays, the park is filled with Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) for Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian countries enjoying their day/s off with their friends eating food from their home countries, playing games, singing and dancing.

During the week, children and their mothers, grandmothers or caretakers walk round the park admiring the fish and turtles sunning on rocks.

To add to the enjoyable and peaceful view, there are waterfalls flowing down into the water.  The sounds of the water is quite relaxing after battling the hustle of the city after a day of hitting all the tourist sites and shopping malls.

Walking up a hill behind the lake, you come to a small greenhouse housing the Forsgate Conservatory.  There is no entrance fee and it  is the right size for a young child to enjoy.  My daughter found it interesting and the size matched her attention span.

Past the conservatory is the Edward Youde Aviary.  There are two parts to the aviary – one exhibit for birds in enclosures and one exhibit in an open space enclosure where you walk amongst the birds.  Both exhibits are free.

After visiting the aviary, it is only a short walk to the children’s playground (or rather playgrounds!)

 

There are separate playgrounds for each age group ranging from toddler and preschool to upper elementary aged children.

 

One other neat part of this park is that they clean it on a regular basis and the area has free wifi!

Other sites of interest include the Tai Chi Garden and Observatory, which is located thirty meters above the garden and provides a good overlook of the whole park area.  What is nice about the tai chi garden is that there are a number do walkways and sitting areas under cover so it it is raining, you can still enjoy the peacefulness of the park’s environment.

The observatory provides a lovely view, but the stairway is quite precarious, so maybe leave the little ones in the playground with your partner or caretaker when making the jaunt up the circular staircase.

The Hong Kong park also serves as a nice cut through between the hotel area and the Pacific Plaza mall and the entrance to the Peak Tram ride.  The exit and entrance near the tram station is in between the squash and sports centres. This route avoids the need to cross any major roads with children!

I am looking forward to taking our daughter to this wonderful little gem of a park next time we visit Hong Kong.