HKFP reports…
Hong Kong’s countryside has seen an influx of tourists with the start of the Labour Day Golden Week in mainland China, recording over 600,000 arrivals in the first two days of the five-day-long holiday.
…High-traffic areas included High Island Reservoir East Dam, Sharp Island, Shui Hau on Lantau, and various Sai Kung East Country Park campsites, the AFCD wrote in a Facebook post.
Over 1,000 camping tents were spotted in the three campsites at Ham Tin Wan, Sai Wan, and Long Ke Wan in Sai Kung East Country Park on Friday evening, the AFCD said, adding that good order and hygiene were maintained at the sites.
More HKFP photos of the scene at Ham Tin Beach in Sai Kung here and here.
But don’t worry! Everything’s OK because camping doesn’t harm hotels…
Speaking to RTHK, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association Timothy Chui said the overall occupancy rate at local hotels reached more than 90 percent during the Labour Day Golden Week holiday.
As for campers, Chui said that some of them were not staying outdoors for their entire trip, instead, they booked hotel rooms for part of their stay and continued spending money in the city.
“Campers might sleep at the camping site for one night and opt for a hotel on the following night. Hong Kong offers this option, it allows tourists to switch between a short time period. They may go camping one day and then continue dining, shopping and having fun in the urban areas the next,” he said.
“This is exactly Hong Kong’s strength.”
Spend one day on a horribly overcrowded beach, and the next day in a horribly overcrowded urban area. Hong Kong: land of horribly overcrowded contrasts.
Don’t they have beaches/trails in the Mainland? What happens when more visitors post selfies on Chinese social media and you have 10,000 tents on these beaches? (Where, as a commenter points out, camping is not actually permitted.) Is there a point where the bureaucrats realize the mindless pursuit of ever-higher tourist numbers is stupid?
Is there a point where the bureaucrats realize the mindless pursuit of ever-higher tourist numbers is stupid?
Flying Pig Time?
“Don’t they have beaches/trails in the Mainland?” It would likely be HK sized crowds x20.
This is the COMPLETE and total opposite of “glamping”, that’s for sure.
HKFP needs to look more closely at that photo. Those aren’t “cigarette butts” as captioned, they’re mostly broken/torn up whole cigarettes.
The perfect weather for a tent on a beach. I’d wager most have zero idea of basic camping procedure and are soaking wet, sandy and miserable. Let’s see how many abandoned tents are left on HK at the end of the ‘golden week’.
What is there to see around Shui Hau besides the prison?
@A Poor Man – the prison is actiually some way away in Shek Pik. Shui Hau is a key focal point of the government’s South Lantau unnecessary overdevelopment project. Just google “hong kong government development shui hau” to learn more. Meanwhile the nearby Lo Kei Wan is (or was) a pleasant beach with an official campsite.
Aide de Camp – Yes, I forgot about Lo Kei Wan. Thanks!