Press Releases

Hiking Festival 2000 kicks off
Saturday, November 20, 1999

Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mrs Lessie Wei, today (Saturday) pronounces the commencement of Hiking Festival 2000, first of an extensive hiking campaign ever held in Hong Kong.

Speaking at a launching ceremony, Mrs Wei said: "With the approach of a new century, we would like to encourage the public to acquire a healthy lifestyle - hiking in our country parks.

"Through promoting hiking and making the best use of our country park facilities, we hope to get more people into closer contact with nature."

A major highlight of the festival is the Millennium Walks.

It comprises a total of ten hiking excursions to be held in ten consecutive weekends starting today at Pak Tam Chung and lead all the way to the new millennium.

The hiking routes chosen range from strenuous walks to challenging paths which suit hiking by most adults, including occasional and regular hikers.

There are also a number of "Guided Easy Walks" in seven of the ten excursions for family based participants.

Participants who finish a trail successfully will be given a specially designed badge as souvenir. There are ten different badges for the ten excursions.

Hikers will also be given a hiking passport "Footprint" for recording of the hiking mileages accumulated.

More than 750 hikers enrolled for the first excursion held in Sai Kung today.

Mrs Wei called upon participants not to litter along the trail and to help keep the country parks clean and beautiful as they always have been.

"There are more than 10 million people visiting country parks every year. If each visitor leaves a piece of paper or an empty bottle along the trail, there will be more than 10 million pieces of litter left in the countryside," she said.

Mrs Wei noted that visitors could easily carry their litter home.

"It shows just how much each of us treasures our valuable countryside," she added.

Mrs Wei was joined by Dr Tam Wing-kun, member of the Steering Committee on Healthy Living, to kick off the hiking event.

Guests of honour also included LegCo member, Ms Christine Loh, representatives of the Country and Marine Parks Board, Chairman, Mr John Wong, and board members, Mrs Mei Ng and Dr Chau Kwai-cheong.

Travel photographer, Miss Rebecca Lee, and local singer, Mr Albert Au, had been appointed as "Hiking Ambassadors" to help promote this healthy, pleasurable yet challenging outdoor activities.