Sometime in mid-July when I met up with a Singaporean friend who was visiting Hong Kong, I suggested going to Tai Tong Lychee Valley instead of doing the usual touristy thing in Hong Kong i.e. hang around popular tourist spots like Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. Summer is lychee season, so I thought it’d be a good time to go to Tai Tong Lychee Valley to pick some of our own.
Unfortunately when we got there, we were told that the lychee trees had all bore fruit and been picked due to the extremely hot weather. The only other fruit we could pick was longans. However, the longans were perched so high up on the tree that we had to get this staff member to go up on a ladder to pick a bunch of longans for us.
There were also water apple trees in the lychee valley. Many other fruit trees like jackfruit, pomegranate, dragon fruit, custard apples and lime were grown as well.
There was even a forlorn looking bunch of green grapes.
A tiny waterfall can be found as you walk farther into the gardens. We had expected something a little more spectacular.
Then we sat down to have our longans. The management doesn’t allow fruits to be brought out of the farm, but you’re allowed to consume as much as you want while you’re in the farm. But really, the amount we ate wasn’t worth the HKD80 (or it could have been HKD70 – I can’t quite remember now) that we paid as entrance fees. It’s really expensive but ah well, I shall see it as donating to a good cause.
A friendly staff member then came over with this bunch of ‘wampee’ (黃皮) after I requested to try some. According to Wikipedia, this is a fruit native to South East Asia, though I’ve never actually seen it in Singapore! The flesh is a translucent white colour that surrounds a small, oval shaped, brown seed. The fruit tastes both sweet and sour at the same time.
Tai Tong Lychee Valley would be a good place to go to for a relaxing day out with the family as it has horse rides for the kids and a playground for the kids to play in. There are also bbq pits for rental. But seriously if there are no lychees to be picked, then don’t bother going. So it’d best to call up beforehand to check – don’t make the same mistake I did.
Getting there: Take red minibus K66 from Long Ping (朗屏) station that’s along the West Rail line. The bus should be going in the direction of Yuen Long (元朗). Click here for more transport details.
Tel: (852) 2470 2201
