The Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve is a thickly forested 460-hectare ‘special area’ and is Hong Kong’s most extensive woodlands. It is home to many species of butterflies, amphibians, birds, dragonflies and trees, and is a superb place in which to enjoy a quiet walk. The reserve is crisscrossed with four main tracks ranging in length from 3km (red trail) to 10km (yellow trail), plus a short nature trail of less than 1km. If possible, avoid the reserve on Sunday and public holidays, when the crowds descend upon the place. The reserve is supposed to emphasise conservation and education rather than recreation, and about 1km northwest of the reserve entrance and down steep Hung Lam Drive is the Kerry Lake Egret Nature Park and the much-touted, over-priced Museum of Ethnology . In the same complex is the delightful, multicuisine Little Egret Restaurant.
