A remote stream, super red on top, a beautiful fun slab and big rocks to scramble on, a few waterfalls, jungle or bush walk endings though.

  • Beauty/fun: 6/10. If these same slab and rocks were closer to the civilization, they would be full of climbers and hikers. Both the approach and exit being relatively complex makes them otherwise. Similarly the stream is very clean, cute and with a few interesting waterfalls, but you have way better options in Lantau. If you are OK with all the above and enjoy bouldering, highly recommended.
  • Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 7/10 complex navigation. Very high scrambling but on best grip rock possible (you might want a 30m rope if with weaker climbers trying the slab). Dense bush or directly pure jungle exit that requires full coverage (pruners highly recommended in some of the options).
  • The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)

See full screen & Garmin track of Tai Ho Left, the second day exploring all the other tributaries, the third day going directly to the slabs and down to D-Bay through streams.

I spent a couple of days exploring this area in 2021. A mixture of pretty places and painfully overgrown sections. Later I brought Denvy to check the easiest more climber focus route. So first pics with her and then other options explained. Pics where I’m in taken by her.

There is no easy public transportation option there. I have marked the two closest bus stops. All buses going to Discovery Bay stop by the Tunnel Toll Plaza. The 1.4km walk next to the road without side paths is not the nicest. Slightly better walk from the West but a few buses stop at Pak Mong. You could take a taxi otherwise directly to the entrance next to the Offtake and Rigging station.

Get close to the water, find the little bridge, and bushwalk time. Initially going up. The path was not very clear the first time there. A bit more open and with a few ribbons last time. Nevertheless, the fork (B1, the first waypoint of the second day, on the map) is not easy to see. Check the GPS or you might end up on the “lake” (actually connected with the sea) again as I did the first day.

The lower part of the stream has nothing remarkable. Flattish within the woods. If you want to go fast you better follow the electric cables further and that way you will find your way directly into the second section. This is cute, with clear water, and a few small pools. Pass the first fork (fuchsia on the left, explained later). Nothing remarkable until you arrive at the waterfall where Denvy is seated. A very distinctive flat wall and

if you look uphill on the left side you should see the slabs.

The way up there was pretty bushy and there were at least two different “paths” with difficult to follow ribbons. Navigation here can be a bit messy and the GPS signal is not the best. In any case, both paths will bring you to the slab. The right one (brown line) is less hiked (denser vegetation) but allows you to scramble one additional slab section. Video from the start till 13 second.

If you go through the left path you will arrive directly at where I’m in the left pic below. The real climbing fun starts here.

You have three main options. Right to left. Easier to most difficult. On the very right, you can get close to vegetation to hold to. In the middle, upper right pic with Denvy on top, there is a crack that is “easy” to scramble up, with tons of really good hand and foot holds. Definitely not for those with vertigo. Finally, on the very left you can climb on the slab. The grip is really really good and with Five Ten-like shoes you might surprise yourself with how easy it can be. Nevertheless, we set my rope from a tiny tree mid-way the slab to check how safe it was. If with weaker climbers I would climb the crack, set up a long rope from there, and let everyone enjoy the slab climb. With the reassurance of the rope, it should feel really safe.

Another video in case you need further visual clues (slab footage, approaching from the right path, starts at 50sec).

I found it on this web in Chinese. Even with a GPX reference file that I have added to the map above, the aforementioned brown line.

Continue up and you should find a few ribbons. In our case, we did this kinda chimney climb.

Completely optional. Hiking groups instead go down just a few meters on the left (looking to that chimney) and scramble around. In both cases, you will end up on the top of the slab and then it is bushwalking time again. What you might find is something as dense as the first pic. Just trust the GPS recording and try to find a very faint “path”: eroded ground, difficult to see initially.

The path just connects various rocks that you can climb on. Atop a bit more dense bush walk. The brown line eventually looked too dense and instead I followed a bit further North, before heading down to the Lantau Trail around here.

From there I like to go down to D-Bay through its streams. But you have tons of different options to go back to civilization. On my second day, I decided to continue exploring all tributaries. All of them have very messy exits. So starting from the Southernmost (red line). I went there from atop. The faintest of the paths, completely undistinctive, then a bit of thorny jungle and get to the stream which was surprisingly red atop.

Later more brownish. This is due to Iron-oxidizing bacteria. When de-oxygenated water reaches a source of oxygen, iron bacteria convert dissolved iron into an insoluble reddish-brown gelatinous slime that discolors stream beads. Organic material dissolved in the water is often the underlying cause. Groundwater may be naturally de-oxygenated by decaying vegetation in swamps. The bacteria can grow and proliferate in waters containing iron concentrations as low as 0,1mg/L. And that is why this small flat tributary in the mini jungle has all the perfect conditions for the bacteria to thrive, creating our own “Red river” 😃

Continuing down I found another fork (B12). Not obvious, as it had very little water on the left tributary. Old ribbons and big rocks heading up. Just a few meters later though I found the biggest wall and “waterfall” in the whole stream. It did not have almost water. But it must look pretty after heavy rain.

It is big and clear enough that you can see it from the slab. I climbed on its right and continued for a while but after 20+min it started to get really bushy and thorny. I could not see any ribbons and the paths on the East side were extremely far away. I tried to connect with the South jungle and path that I had been at before, but after a bit of fight I gave up. I had my pruners, but this would require full hard clothe cover (not just tights and thin arm protectors) and the machete. So I just went down all the stream and run back to the D-Bay toll plaza with the sunset.

On the first day, I checked the leftmost tributary of Tai Ho stream, fuchsia line. It has almost no remarkable features. A mini cave with a mini waterfall in. Upper some mossy areas, tiny pools, and a cute stairs-like thin waterfall, that you can see in a lot of small streams in Hong Kong.

The upper part is a vegetation mess and difficult to navigate. Even when I arrived, after some fight, to the “path” on the map… Very overgrown and with thorny areas too. I would not recommend that tributary but for the most hardcore “I-want-to-see-them-all”.

If you have a lot of time and want to see everything remarkable in the area, my recommendation would be to go up the stream and see the red water. Down and little up to see the wall (B15). Head down again and up the slab. End in D-Bay through the waterfalls. Denvy had some time limitations and therefore we did it shorter.

I used to call this Tai Ho stream, just because of the area where it is. As per comments with Chris below, it seems that it is better called 田字坑 = Tin Zi stream. I guess whoever named it decided to equal it to where it ends 田字灣 Tin Zi Bay (the no lake under), once there is no clear peak from where it comes.

Everything you should know before stream hiking.