Lower Shing Mun Valley Park

I've been told that there are now a good number of parks in Hong Kong and that some of them may well be worth a visit. The Shing Mun Valley Park is one of them. So on the eve of my visit to America, I went there. According to the Government, the park, located next to Shek Wai Kok and the Cheung Wan Estates in Tsuen Wan, used to be a temporary housing site but has since 1997 been remodeled into two huge parks, upper and lower, with a sports ground in between. What did I find at the Lower Shing Mun Valley Park?
 

Trees of course

.

and full of flowers too.

I like the way they shine under the sun

And non-flowering evergreens and shrubs too.

Some of the evergreens have pine-needle like leaves.





Others have bamboo like leaves

I like the water weed like leaves of this plant

I love the way the leaves look under the sun

Some of the shrubs have pinkish red flowers





growing in big clumps

or small clumps

Others bear red and yellow flowers..

Some have tube-lik buds which would open out.





Others have orchid like flowers with long stamens





Some flowers look like little old fashioned hand grenades or torpedos or First World War bombs

Some have flower buds like little spears or red cotton tips?

Some leaves have similarly looking buds

There were some familiar flowers like this yellow flower.

And these small yellow flowers

and this purple flower.





I like the little spots in the petals of this flower

There was a small rose garden





A rose bud





but there was not a huge variety of roses. Only some pink and yellow roses.

A  pink rose.

A yellow roses

Not only do I like flowers, leaves too have a charm of their own which appeals to me.  I like the wave-like leaves of this one.

There are also other types of leaves with wavy edges too but their leaves are much bigger.

And some has simple leaves of many colors. This one has leaves with strips of red, yellow and  green.

This one has leaves of yellow and green

This plant has leaves of saw-like edges and a soft velvety surface.

Whilst this one has leaves with smooth edges and waxy surfaces.

I like the shiny surface of these leaves which gleam in the sun

As it was near to Christmas, they displayed some "Christmas flowers" in red and yellow

Some plants have already produced berries.

Some plants have paper like leaves.

Whilst this tree has paper like barks.

The surface of the ponds were full of fallen leaves and flowers

which were stuck at the edges of the rocks

Where the water was not deep enough, the fallen leaves and flowers would simply stay where they landed

I like the reflections on the surface of this pond

whose patterns kept changing with the gentle ripples on its surface

There was a pond which was supposed to be a lotus pond but they also grow some other plants there for variety.

This is the lotus pond

I like the way they lay down the bricks to create shadows on the surface of the water. Their straight lines contrast with the rounded shapes of the smaller lotus leaves.

The stem of this little plant describes an almost perfect arc which join with its base to form a circle

It looked as if there were needle like leaves growing below the circular lotus leaves


 

A most clever way of breaking the monotony of the edge of the lotus pond




There was a pond with what is supposed to be a fountain but it was not working.

The same pond at sunset.

when the garden light was lit.

Sunset upon the window of a building at the entrance to the park

And some air ducts arranged in a row of arcs I saw on my way down the MTR station in my journey home to do the packing for the midnight flight.