Hong Kong Tourism - yet another great idea not acted upon

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Lion Rock 2025 in the background taken on the grounds of the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon Hong Kong

Lion Rock 1973 in the background taken in Kowloon, Hong Kong showing the proposed route of the cable car project

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Lion Rock back in the day as they say and yes it really does look like a sitting lion! it is a Hong Kong Icon

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Lion Rock taken in 1954 from the old Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon

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Lion Rock Hong Kong and the Lion Rock Spirit that defines Hong Konger’s

In Kowloon, Hong Kong across the water from Hong Kong Island there is a mountain range at the back of the Kowloon so to speak (or very large hills! or peaks) that separate Kowloon from the New Territories, the peaks are known as the 9 dragons (actually there are only 8 but that is another story) and Lion Rock is probably the most famous of the Peaks.

Lion Rock is a 495 meter high mountain or peak or hill! (Victoria Peak on Hong Kong is 552 meters) viewed from a distance, it resembles a lion sitting regally with its head facing west, as if to guard Hong Kong. Lion Rock has traditional stone trails both on the east and west sides hence it’s popularity as a hiking trail… I am always amazed at how crowded it gets on a weekend.

Since 1841 Lion Rock has gradually become part of the Hong Kong lore that is The Lion Rock Spirit, a term that is applied to Hong Kong people.

“It has been compared to the "Blitz Spirit" and the "American Dream". The term first emerged during the 1970s and was coined after “Below the Lion Rock” a television series first aired in 1972 by Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK. It featured stories about the working class and tackled sociopolitical issues.”

From civilisation in Kowloon it takes anything up to 3 hours to hike up to the summit of Lion Rock and trust me it is NOT an easy hike at all and it explains why I have only been up there once since 1972! there are regular incidents of people getting into serious trouble on the hike and some fatalities from heart attacks or falling from a height…. just so that you aware.

Personally I have never really seen the attraction of huffing and puffing my way up very big hills and Lion Rock in particular is a real challenge (I guess that is the point) and it is a lot more difficult than walking up to the summit of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island and I hate doing that with a passion!

Our family arrived in 1972 and I remember a tour guide on a coach tour we did the day after arriving in Hong Kong that there were 2 places we just had to visit, Victoria Peak and Lion Rock, the guide was kind enough to tell us about the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak (and that there was plenty of roads to get up there) but mentioned that Lion Rock was a difficult hike but the Government in 1971 had put forward an idea to build a cable car system from Kowloon up to the summit of Lions Rock.

The 1971 Lion Rock Cable car link was reported in the South China Morning Post (their last article on this subject was in 2019) and got a lot of attention, it was to start from a site on Shatin Pass Road in Kowloon and basically go straight up the East side of Lion Rock and at the summit would be a cable car station and viewing platform to offer magnificent views of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Tenders were invited on March 16, 1973, to be submitted before August 31 1973 and there was a lot of interest, it was proposed that the Cable Car start operating by the end of 1976.

Naturally the project was aimed not just as an alternative to the hiking trails already in operation but tourism was what got companies excited. they knew that the Peak Tram on Hong Kong Island was a real money spinner!

Along the climb up to the summit would be a couple of stops that would include shops and restaurants with the main unique selling point was no doubt to be a complex not unlike the Peak Tower Complex on Victoria Peak which gets 7+ million visitors a year.

The tender attracted a lot of interest but by 1974, work had still not begun and that was the beginning of the end so to speak.

Apparently one tender was rejected out of hand and 2 more were not rejected but subject to “further consideration”

As is typical in Hong Kong (and still is today) a further study was commissioned by the Government which was their way of saying that the project was NOT going to move forward however in 1975 they agreed to open up a new tender but interest in the project has visibly waned and only one tender was forthcoming and that was the end.

Here is a direct quote from a Hong Kong Government Legislative Council Meeting on Wednesday 5th June 1974

Lion Rock Aerial Ropeway

12. DR C HUNG asked: —

Will Government inform this Council what progress has been made so

far on the proposed Lion Rock Ropeway?

SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: —Sir, none of the three tenders which were

received last year for a franchise to construct the cable car to Lion Rock were

acceptable because they did not comply with the tender conditions. Two,

however, merited further consideration and a comparative evaluation of these

two schemes and an assessment of their environmental implications is in hand by

the Public Works Department.

It is expected that this will be completed by the end of this month and that a

recommendation for the grant of the franchise will be ready for submission to the

Governor in Council shortly thereafter.

So there you go, a little piece of Hong Kong history……

Since then I have not recalled too many articles about this ill fated project, to me anyway and to those in tourism in Hong Kong it is still a viable project and it is a 3 year project tops and I simply do not understand why it is not built, pretty much it would be a huge hit with the entire Hong Kong population and for tourists, well it would be an instant hit as popular as visiting Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island.

The Hong Kong Government does take tourism seriously and this is reflected in tourism arrivals (45 million in 2024) it is a pillar of the Hong Kong economy employing over 250,000 people) yet for some reason or another it has a very hit or miss record when it comes to major tourism projects.

The 2 big projects to me that need to be considered and which would be a huge boost for Hong Kong Tourism would be :

• A pedestrian bridge across Hong Kong Harbour from the Star Ferry Terminal in Kowloon to the Star Ferry Terminal on Hong Kong Island

• A cable car to Lion Rock for Kowloon

I live in hope that these will be built in my lifetime but I am not holding my breath.

So as a visitor to Hong Kong you might be interested in the hike up Lion Rock, there are hundreds if not thousands of articles these days on the subject that will tell you exactly how to do it… just don’t ask me!

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Kowloon Peak, one of the 9 Dragon Peaks and close to Lion Rock, it 602 m high so quite a bit taller than Lion Rock - again very hard to access and would also benefit from having a cable car service, as you can see the view is really something but in my opinion not quite as good as the Lion Rock View but that is subjective, this spot is accessible by car by the way

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Hong Kong does have a fabulous cable car ride, 5.7 km long that opened in 2006 taking visitors from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping high up in the mountains where awaits the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery, it is just an awesome thing to do and this project shows what can be done when the Government puts their mind to something, a Lion Rock Cable Car project would be a piece of cake compared to the NP 360 Cable Car project, we live in hope that Lion Rock will get it’s cable car!

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Finally, here is one from the archives courtesy of my friends at Old Hong Kong in Colour, the privately built Mount Parker Ropeway from 1891 - 1932, now it is not quite on the same level as a cable car system but if they could build this 130+ years ago how hard could it be to build a cable car to the summit of Lion Rock!

Please note the quote below from an article, oddly enough the article comments are not accurate, it seems the Government Source had no idea that an aerial ropeway was in service on Mount Parker in Hong Kong from 1891 - 1932!

“The tender calls for plans of not only an aerial ropeway from the base to the top of Lion Rock but also sketches of the type of carriages and pylons to be used and plans for upper and lower stations. In this impression of installations the design is imaginary but the placement is accurate

A Government spokesman has said that the aerial ropeway, the first of its kind in Hongkong, will have to be designed in such a way so as not to mar the beauty of the area. The whole idea of the project is to provide a worthwhile attraction for both tourists and residents and as much as possible will be made of the scenic beauty of the area, he said”

I imagine the Lion Rock cable car would have been a much more modern and substantial “ropeway”!

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