Camping in Lantau’s Pui O Beach
“Moments are born and moments die. For new experiences to come to life, old ones need to wither away.” My previous camping experience in Taiwan wasn’t the most pleasant. Back in 2020, I camped under a canopy (no tents) when hiking閂山鈴鳴山 in a group of five. The insecurity of not being “under a roof”, the echoes of wildlife throughout the darkness, and apprehensive anticipation for the challenging hike ahead staged a sleepless night. Needless to say, my physical and mental conditions weren’t at its best the next day, and this 百岳experience was deeply ingrained in memory. Thus, when C****** proposed to camp in Hong Kong, I had my hesitations, but the calling for nature and new experiences were equally tempting. As Emily Dickinson said, “the soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”
Lantau island’s Pui O campsite stands out with its well-maintained facilities, accessibility and stretching sea view. Tents are parked along the shoreline, perfect for sea-watching and gazing at the night sky. With a 20-minute taxi ride, you’ll be transported from Tung Chung’s cityscape to Lantau’s southern ridges, overlooking Pui O’s gently curved beachfront. Despite the ample facilities for purchase at the campsite (including cookware, drinks, cup noodles), preparation plays as important a part as the actual camp building on site. Meticulous planning and teamwork were instrumental — renting tent supplies, meal ingredients, recreation activities, and planning for the unprecedented — such as the capricious weather we encountered.
Over the Christmas weekend of 2021, Hong Kong’s temperature dropped to the lower teens and into single digits, along with soft drizzles of rain. If it were a solo hiking trip, one would cancel in face of the grim weather, but with a group of (adventurous) five, we ventured ahead. Imperfect first experiences train grit and build perspective for following ventures, I guess. I recall my first 百岳experience in Taiwan clearly — hiking under the showering rain (literally), lost in the woods at 6pm in the middle of descent, as I bent down using all fours to feel the topography in the dark (luckily with fellow experienced hikers). The 百岳hikes after this mostly went better with better preparation, brighter weather, and enhanced judgements.
We put up our tents and the canopy under the rapidly dropping temperature as the sun settled into the horizon. Soft drizzles sprinkled down as night fell, but luckily, we prepared hotpot for dinner — with a stove of boiling water to warm us up. Dining under the pitch darkness, waves paddling against the shoreline, chilly breezes flapping in our faces, soft raindrops dancing on the canopy, and a delightful hotpot before us — brewed a cozy ambiance as the hotpot simmered in midst of the cold.
We also brought along an eccentric collection of camping gadgets — guitar, ukulele, football, lamps; and while waiting for the hotpot, playing football, and running on the rolling carpet of sand warmed the body up.
Camping overnight in Pui O was a magical experience, as most of us are on the daily grind on workdays. December was a time when businesses quieted down, and the 3-day Christmas break was perfect for a longer camping trip. Over the past year, day times was mostly spent in this energetic, fast-paced, densely populated forest of skyscrapers; but a world of relaxing sea scape softens and slows us down. When was the last time you gazed into the sea for 10 minutes — gazing peacefully at its stretching horizons with the mind wandering nowhere? The last time when you ran freely under the stretching shoreline, chasing after a ball like a child? The sea intrigues, inspires, and revitalizes; with a powerful magic to steer us into a slightly different perspective along our life ventures.
We sought for protection inside the tents after dusk settled, with the rain and dropping temperature. Playing card games along with nostalgic Taiwanese classics from the 80s and 90s brewed a cozy ambiance. The crew was physically exhausted after setting up the canopy and tent under the chilly rain, but eager for more fun; hoping that the poker disputes, shrill laughter, and loud music stay insulated within our tents.
As we retired into our sleeping bags, we slept with nature’s lullaby — raindrops dancing on the tents like bullets and waves crashing ashore rhythmically. A perfect stage for a sleepless night when one is accustomed to the warmth and stability of a bed. Yet, in comparison with insomnia in a comfortable bed; camping outdoors and listening to the sea and the rain offered solace to the exhausted soul. Nature’s eternity and grandiose offers perspective in, solace to, and escape from, present anchors at hand.
Camping also gives us a glimpse of companions through different lenses — when getting our hands dirty, sharing gritty groundwork, planning in detail, and conversing in a laid-back manner. We could always be in a comfortable bubble of the quotidienne, but outdoor adventures and adverse challenges can bring out another dimension of individual character — decision making glimpsed when poker, organizational competence in planning, emotional intelligence in face of unprecedented predicaments, wealth of creative pursuits, and temperaments in openness and being a listener.
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A mind that is stretched by new experiences doesn’t go back to its old dimensions. Thankful for the merry companions, the capricious weather, the beautiful Pui O beach, and an adventure to remember!
