Tai Mo Shan is the highest

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, with an elevation of . It is located at approximately the geographical centre of the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

. The Tai Mo Shan Country Park covers an area of around Tai Mo Shan. It is located to the north of

Tai Lam Country Park Tai Lam Country Park, established on 23 February 1979, is a country park located in Tai Lam, at the south of Yuen Long Town, Kam Tin and Shek Kong and east of Tuen Mun Town, in the western New Territories of Hong Kong. This country park has an a ...

. The Long Falls is the highest waterfall in Hong Kong.

Geography

The whole Tai Mo Shan mountain range, known as Guan Fu Mountain (官富山, named after the salt field Kwun Fu Cheung (官富場) in present-day

Kowloon Bay Kowloon Bay is a body of water within Victoria Harbour and an area within Kowloon, Hong Kong. The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victoria Harbour, between ...

) in

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

dynasties, covers over 350 square km, and stretches from Tai Lam Chung Reservoir in the West near

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

and

Ma On Shan Ma On Shan may refer to: * Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong * Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain * Ma On ...

in the east and the mountains of

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

and

Clear Water Bay Clear Water Bay () is a bay on the eastern shore of Clear Water Bay Peninsula of Hong Kong, located within Clear Water Bay Country Park. There are two beaches at Clear Water Bay: "Clear Water Bay First Beach" and "Clear Water Bay Second Beach". ...

in the south. Two other significant coastal peaks, the

Lantau Peak Lantau Peak or Fung Wong Shan (literally "Phoenix Mountain") is the second highest peak in Hong Kong and the highest point on Lantau Island, with a height of above sea level. Name origin The mountain is actually made up of a pair of peaks, on ...

(934m) on

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

and

Mount Wutong Wutong Mountain (; Hong Kong Hakka: ''Ng2tung2 san1'') is a mountain located near the border of Luohu and Yantian in Shenzhen, China. At 943.7m, it is the tallest mountain in Shenzhen. The mountain is also source of the Shenzhen River. Geography ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

(943.7m) are approximately 27 km to the southwest and 21.5 km to the northeast respectively.

Subpeaks

There are a few subpeaks that are given names in the Tai Mo Shan area, including: *

Sze Fong Shan Sze Fong Shan (), located in Tai Po District of the New Territories, is the fourth highest peak in Hong Kong. With a height of 784 m (2,572 ft), it is northeast of Tai Mo Shan. The Eighth Stage of the MacLehose Trail passes near it. Nam ...

() * Wo Yang Shan () *

Miu Ko Toi Miu Ko Toi ( Chinese: 妙高台) is a peak in Hong Kong. It is situated in New Territories and stands at a height of above the sea level. It is one of the subpeaks of the tallest mountain in Hong Kong Tai Mo Shan. Name The Cantonese name Miu ...

() * Wo Tong Kong () *Lin Fa Shan, Tsuen Wan () *Shek Lung Kung, Tsuen Wan () *Tin Fu Tsai Shan () *Ha Fa Shan, Tsuen Wan ()

Geology

Tai Mo Shan is an inactive

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

dating from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

. A small hill known as "Kwun Yam Shan" near the mountain still vents warm air through cracks in the rocks that lead all the way to the mantle. The holes that exhale warm air are known as "hot pots". When the surface temperature is cold, and the warmth of the expelled air is clearly discernible, this phenomenon is referred to by locals as "dragon's breath". If the air temperature at the summit is 6 degrees Celsius, then the air emerging from the interior of Kwun Yum Shan is somewhere between 13 and 21 degrees Celsius. These "hot pots" are remnants of the active volcano's superheated steam vents. The area's

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic r ...

s are mainly coarse ash crystal

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Tai Mo Shan features a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cwa''), bordering a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(''Cwb''). Due to the height of the mountain, Tai Mo Shan is claimed to be Hong Kong's most misty area, as it is often covered in clouds. In summer it is frequently covered with

cumulus clouds Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin ''cumulo-'', meaning ''heap'' or ''pile''. Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, gener ...

, especially on rainy days, and in winter

stratus clouds Stratus clouds are low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective or cumulus cloud, cumuliform clouds that are formed by rising thermals. More specifically, the term ''stratus'' is used to des ...

and

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

often cover the peak. It is not uncommon for temperatures to drop below freezing point during the winter. A record low of negative 6 Celsius was seen in the

January 2016 East Asia cold wave In late January 2016, a cold wave struck much of East Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia and parts of northern South Asia, bringing record cold temperatures and snowfall to many regions. Rain and snow mixed, Sleet was reported in Okinawa for t ...

Vegetation

In the past, Tai Mo Shan was famous for a type of

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

, called ''mist'' or ''cloud'' tea, which grew wild on the mountain side. Occasionally, local people can still be seen picking the tea shoots for brewing green tea. More than 1,500 species of plants have been recorded in Tai Mo Shan including 27 species of native wild orchids, the protected Chinese Lily ('' Lilium brownii'') which mostly grows on the east side of the Mountain, 24 species of native ferns, including

tree ferns The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

, of which a total of only 4 tree ferns species have been recorded around the entire mountain, 19 species of native grasses, and 7 species of native bamboos. ''Camellia sinensis var. waldenae'' (formerly ''

Camellia waldenae ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

'') are also found on the mountain. A few types of wild orchids also grow in the streams of Tai Mo Shan including the Chinese pholidota orchid, Hong Kong's most common orchid, and the bamboo orchid, so called because of a distinct stem that looks like bamboo, which also grows in the streams of Tai Mo Shan. During the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, most of the trees in the park were cut down and extensive

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

was carried out after the war. Trees that were planted are mostly non-native such as ''

Pinus massoniana ''Pinus massoniana'' (English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of pine, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam. Description It is an evergreen tree ...

'', ''

Acacia confusa ''Acacia confusa'' is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, Ayangile, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia (Taiwan acacia), Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 1 ...

'', ''

Lophostemon confertus ''Lophostemon confertus'' (syn. ''Tristania conferta''), is an evergreen tree native to Australia, though it is cultivated in the United States and elsewhere. Common names include brush box, Queensland box, Brisbane box, pink box, box scrub, and ...

'', and paper bark tree. The area has now become one of Hong Kong's major forest plantations.

Wildlife

Local wildlife consists of birds,

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

. There are also

freshwater crabs Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which relea ...

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...

Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

s and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

History

In 1986, a 34-hour blaze destroyed 282,500 trees at

Shing Mun Shing Mun () is an area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It used to be, as suggested by its Chinese characters, a gate between the two areas separated by a range of hills. History Before the construction of Shi ...

and Tai Mo Shan and ravaged 7.40 km² of countryside. Tai Mo Shan Country Park was formally designated on the 23rd of February 1979.

Access

The summit of Tai Mo Shan is not accessible to visitors, as it is occupied by a

Hong Kong Observatory The Hong Kong Observatory is a weather forecast agency of the government of Hong Kong. The Observatory forecasts the weather and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also monitors and makes assessments on radiation levels in Ho ...

(ex-

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

)

weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...

station. It was reported in July 2014 that the station additionally houses facilities of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

References

External links

Tai Mo Shan Country Park
{{Authority control Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong Country parks and special areas of Hong Kong Volcanism of Hong Kong Jurassic volcanism Extinct volcanoes