Hong Kong Geopark was officially designated as a National Geopark of China in 2009, and was renamed Hong Kong Global Geopark of China in 2011 when it was accepted as a member of the Global Geoparks Network. With the formalisation of the new “UNESCO Global Geopark” label, Hong Kong Geopark was renamed Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015.
Hong Kong Geopark’s major geoattractions include well-outcropped rhyolitic volcanic hexagonal rock columns, of which the average diameter is 1.2 m and which are distributed over a land-and-sea area of 100 km2 in Sai Kung.
Located in the eastern part of Hong Kong, the Geopark comprises two geological regions within its single, unified boundary: the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region and the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region.
The Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region contains a wide distribution of hexagonal rock columns of international significance. The major sites of these columns are:
High Island Reservoir East Dam
Sharp Island
Ninepin Group
Ung Kong Group
Tai Long Wan
Kau Sai Chau
Yim Tin Tsai
The sites around High Island Reservoir East Dam contain a lot of information boards for visitors, and if you hike to Ma La To at the south eastern edge of Fa Shan, you can observe extensive cliffs formed of stone columns, and you can also make your own stack of stones. But don’t go alone, it’s much better to do this with friends.
