One of the many things I love about Hong Kong is its banyan trees. They’re easy to spot with their flowing, above-ground roots. I saw the above tree at Kowloon Park in August this year. The following banyans are ones I’ve seen over the last five years.
The hands of gratitude sculpture is on Nathan Road just outside Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui. The street is lined with banyans and is just as lovely as it was when I first saw Hong Kong at the age of 19.
If you look closely, you can see roots climbing down the trunk on the far right of this photo.
The roots of this banyan grew down the side of a cliff in Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong Island.
I’m not really sure if there are banyans in this photo, but the public loo is so cute (although I didn’t dare try it!). This was taken on the Peak.
Another photo from my walk up to the Peak. The banyan roots are alongside a nullah, or drainage trench, carved into the side of the hill. Without nullahs, there would be horrible landslies. Hong Kong is efficient like that.
This beautiful banyan was on another part of the walk up to the Peak.
And here’s yet another banyan on that walk. It’s another example of engineering to prevent landslides. The banyan roots seem to adapting quite well to the cement protector.
This banyan is in Kowloon City, not far from the old Kai Tak Airport.
Another angle of the same tree.
And this banyan is behind a temple in Wanchai. It’s hard to see, but cement stairs have been built into the side of the tree on the right side of this photo.
I probably have more banyan photos because these trees really are everywhere in Hong Kong. There were many on campus where I lived up in the New Territories 20+ years ago. Hong Kong is known for its urban density, but it’s also filled with great trees and other flora.
Great job and thanks for taking the time to create this great post. I would be interested to know what the wildlife that these trees support. Whether you can capture pictures of it or not. Look forward to chatting with you!