As everyone and their mother knows, yesterday was pretty damn cold in Hong Kong. While most of us were layering up on blankets and Heattech undershirts (thanks, Uniqlo) or indulging in hotpot, some foolhardy Hongkongers decided to take the Sound of Music too literally and climb every mountain.
Some went to Victoria Peak, while others made a beeline straight for Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong’s highest peak, which is reportedly one of the only places in Hong Kong that’s experienced light snow – albeit in the 1960s and 70s.
The icy path to Tai Mo Shan was treacherously slippery, but apparently not enough to scare off determined hikers.
Many found that their hair and clothes became frosted in the sub-zero temperatures.
The wintry novelty seemed to thrill Hongkongers, who posted endless snaps of delicate branches encased in ice.
Personally, we at Coconuts HQ were more partial to the photos of frozen leaves.
One gleeful Hongkonger even scooped up some ice from the road to make a tiny snowman, which was dubbed Ice Man and given a little yellow mask to complete the superhero look. It’s worth saying that no matter how novel it seems, don’t eat yellow snow. Don’t eat any snow, full stop.
While some posed happily next to Ice Man on their slide back down the mountain, the slippery roads were far less amusing for others.
The descent from Tai Mo Shan proved to be a dangerous one for many “frost tourists”, as emergency services rushed to help hikers who got stranded on the peak.
Eventually, the road to the peak was cordoned off to prevent further accidents, but elsewhere on the MacLehose trail, keen shutterbugs captured the picturesque beauty of Ngong Ping campsite; the emptiness of which directly contrasted the popular Tai Mo Shan, which according to one frost chaser, was “crowded like [Mong Kok]”.
Ngong Ping campsite. Photo: Man Li/Hobbyman
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