Hong Kong and its Hiking Trails

Hong Kong while not necessarily famous for its hiking trails, does have many trails all over the islands and small section of mainland that make up the small country. There are several hiking marathons done each year with the MacLehose Trail race being the one best known.
 

The article of this week looks at how Hong Kong’s nature parks and hiking trails have been transformed through the removal of bins along the hiking trail, forcing those who have rubbish which they need to throw away to carry it home where they can dispose of it there. At least that is what is being implied by the article. 

Hikers welcomed the change.

James Lam, 36, said it was “natural for us to take our litter home” and noted that “litter could harm wild animals”.

“But if they know enough about the planning of the bins, most nature lovers and hikers would not mind the small trouble of taking trash home,” Huang said.

The article then goes on to say that since the removal of the bins the amount of rubbish collected has dropped significantly. Though now the question is: are people really taking their rubbish back home where they can deal with it then or are they simply dealing with it in a different way? It is not that difficult to take what ever it is that you wish to dispose of and dropping it down between some plants, and since Hong Kong’s hiking trails are generally very much covered in the stuff it can be assumed that a lot of it does get disposed of in this manner without anyone being the wiser.

However, I would like to be able to give Hong Konger’s the benefit of the doubt and would like to believe that they are becoming more environmentally conscious what with the semi successful introduction of the recycling bin in 2013. Though even about that subject there are many articles being written about how Hong Konger’s are not recycling the items they have properly. Still the fact that they have these recycling bins is a step in the right direction.

The other aspect that the article of the week mentions is the fact that with the removal of the bins labour has been freed up and therefore workers can now focus their attention on other things such as the maintenance and repair work of the trails and their attached facilities.

With no more bins, they would be assigned more valuable work such as repairing facilities such as benches to pavilions, he said.

This rather noble idea has been had rather laughable with the statement given by Mr Chan Tat-yan who is a field assistant working on one of Hong Kong’s many trails. While he is correct that the trails need maintenance, I do not feel that the benches to pavilions are truly what need the focus of the freed up labour force, but rather the maintenance of the hiking trails themselves, such as the steps that they have the stepping stones over rivers and areas where flash floods have cause damage, should have the focus of the workers.