After Hong Kong Reopens, Find a Romantic Seaside Spot – I Want to Watch the Sunset with You
On January 8, 2023, Hong Kong finally reopened its border with Shenzhen, sending travel lovers into a frenzy. I immediately booked a spot to visit Hong Kong, but unfortunately the self-service visa endorsement for Hong Kong was not yet available, so I couldn’t make it on the first day. The last time I was in Hong Kong was on February 4, 2020, when the domestic epidemic was at its worst. I had just finished a road trip in a campervan in New Zealand and flew back to Hong Kong via Melbourne, Australia. I never imagined that would be the final farewell; time flies like a white pony passing a crevice – three years have passed.
Many young people ask, aside from shopping and eating, what else can you do in Hong Kong? If you want something romantic and budget-friendly, watch the sunset with your beloved! Ha Pak Nai (Lower Pak Nai), Lei Yue Mun Waterfront Promenade, Tai O, Wu Sha Xi, Lamma Island, Lung Kwu Tan, Tung Chung Airport, Tsuen Wan Ferry Pier, Gold Coast, Stanley, Cheung Chau Island, High Island Reservoir East Dam, Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, Tsim Sha Tsui, and West Kowloon – Hong Kong has 15 best sunset viewing spots, and even on a cruise ship, you can enjoy the best moving sunset view. Many people think that a small place like Hong Kong doesn’t have so many spots to watch the sunset, but Ha Pak Nai in Lau Fau Shan ranks first among sunset spots and is known as Hong Kong’s sunset paradise.
You don’t need to arrive at Ha Pak Nai too early for the sunset. If you get there before noon, you can first visit two declared monuments in Ha Pak Nai to pass the time. At No. 55 Ha Pak Nai, Yuen Long, there is a two-story blue-brick building built in 1910 in Long Zhuo Village. It looks like an ordinary detached house, but it has tapered recessed windows and two gun holes on the roof parapet – this is the Ha Pak Nai Fort. It was a revolutionary base established by Deng Yin-nan, a member of the Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society), with a rice mill and sugar refinery as cover. Later, the main buildings were demolished, leaving only the Ha Pak Nai Fort, which is the only surviving building from the Xinhai Revolution in Hong Kong. If you still have time, you can look for the Chen Family Garden Bronze Age Cultural Site at Peace Hall in Pak Nai Village.
Arrive at Ha Pak Nai before sunset, walk through the grass to see the bay, mudflat, and mangrove saplings. The young mangrove saplings have trunks covered with barnacles and other small creatures, so densely packed that it’s a bit startling, but under the sunset glow, the mangrove saplings appear exceptionally green. Small crabs bask in the sun on the beach; when they see passersby, they scurry away and shrink into small holes in the sand, some with a single claw still exposed – whether ready to strike again or to mark their territory is unknown.
After low tide, neat rows of oyster clusters are arranged on the mudflat, stretching sinuously into the sea. Getting closer, the oyster clusters look like pairs of little monsters staring at each other, with the backdrop of Shenzhen Shekou’s Danan Mountain and Chiwan Container Terminal – a blend of the primitive and the modern. The brackish water area of Hong Kong’s Pak Nai is the best environment for oyster cultivation. Pak Nai has a history of oyster farming spanning over 200 years, and the Lau Fau Shan oysters produced here are quite famous in Hong Kong. After watching the sunset, many visitors go to Lau Fau Shan in Yuen Long for dinner, enjoying the fresh oysters.
Sunset viewers wear a variety of footwear – sandals, hiking shoes, water shoes, rubber boots – anything waterproof that allows wading. But be careful not to venture deep into the mudflat, as you might sink and fall easily. There are three must-haves for watching the sunset at Ha Pak Nai: bottled water, mosquito repellent, and sunscreen. The afternoon sun is scorching, and the beach offers no shade, while at night there are many mosquitoes. The barren beach has no shops; you have to walk to a nearby fishing ground to buy water and drinks. It’s best to bring enough water and food beforehand to stave off hunger in the evening.
When the sun lingers on the horizon, parents take their children to launch paper boats with candles in the creek, along with many white foam carriers holding lotus lanterns – like shining boats of hope drifting downstream into the sea. While appreciating this, I can’t help but feel that such a poetic act, from an environmental perspective, seems to be destroying the future. Human thoughts and actions can sometimes be unfathomable.
Photography enthusiasts have already set up tripods and claimed their shooting spots. The light on the beach gradually dims, and the rows of oyster shells in the camera viewfinder become nearly invisible. Many crouch in the seawater, adjusting filters like graduated neutral density filters and polarizers on their lenses, and preparing remote shutter releases. It takes hours of waiting – just for the instant of sunset. Some might not understand why people would come to this barren beach, standing in the water to watch the sunset, instead of sitting elegantly by the Victoria Harbour shore. Perhaps you’ll understand only when you go yourself.
Every clear weekend evening, at least a hundred people come here to photograph and watch the sunset. To get a good sunset shot at Ha Pak Nai, you need to master two key points: first, choose a day with a big low tide, otherwise you can’t capture the beach and oyster beds, and the creek will be submerged, making the foreground plain; second, pick a good season with favorable weather. Only two or three months a year have sunsets with rich color variations, and summer is the best.
The day we went for photos, it wasn’t the best weather in Hong Kong. In summer, Hong Kong is influenced by southeast winds from the Pacific, which carry abundant water vapor and little dust, making the air clear. In winter, northeast winds from inland bring more dust, which is bad for photography. The best time for sunset, known as the Magic Hour, is very brief – roughly half an hour before and half an hour after sunset. When the magic hour arrives at Ha Pak Nai, the sunlight becomes softer, tinting the clouds and the entire beach red. If there are clouds, their picturesque patterns add even more romance to the sky.
The oyster beds are always crowded with people holding smartphones and cameras, using the beds as foreground for sunset photos. If you can avoid the crowd in front, the photos become purer. The creek is often packed with young people taking selfies – the flowing water reflects the light, making the surface an excellent foreground. During the most beautiful moments, many couples embrace and take selfies on the beach, striking all kinds of poses, making others envious. It truly has the flavor of being enchanted by Ha Pak Nai.
The sun slowly sets amidst gorgeous red clouds, the weather cools down, and a sea breeze blows. The sky turns a pure blue, intoxicating once again. After dark, the lights of Shenzhen’s Shekou across the bay turn on, and the Shenzhen Bay Bridge spanning the bay stands out brightly, like a string of small pearls connecting the two shores. People on both sides become part of each other’s scenery – you watch the scenery by the shore, and those in the scenery watch you.
Travel tips for Ha Pak Nai, Hong Kong: Take No. 33 minibus or NR941 village bus from Yuen Long Tai Fung Street or Lau Fau Shan. There is no bus stop at Ha Pak Nai; tell the driver to let you get off. Be sure to note the last bus time. During peak season, if you miss the bus, you’ll need to walk 6 km back to Lau Fau Shan to transfer.
Parts of this travelogue are excerpted from my newly published book “No Work, Go to Islands: A Blue Love Story in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.” Without the permission of myself and the publisher, it is forbidden to republish the text and images of this travelogue (including but not limited to screenshots, screen captures, video conversion, etc.) under the name of others.
