Minibus driver tells of shocking 500-person queue at hiking hot spot

A trending hiking and photography hot spot in Sai Kung was packed with tourists on March 22, with a minibus driver recounting the shocking scenes he witnessed on that day, including a queue of up to 500 people waiting to return to the city centers.

The new Po Pin Chau Viewing Platform in Sai Kung, a scenic viewpoint along the MacLehose Trail, offers stunning views of its iconic hexagonal volcanic columns and has quickly become a popular destination for tourists.

The hot spot has gained popularity on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, leading to a surge in visitors.

Po Pin Chau is located within the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark near the High Island Reservoir. Visitors typically hike from the MacLehose Trail to the East Dam of the reservoir before reaching Po Pin Chau.

Lau, a driver who drives the route 9A minibus that runs between Pak Tam Chung and the East Dam of the reservoir, said he had never seen that many people in his four years working this route.

Speaking to reporters a few days ago, Lau said mainland tourists have been flooding into the scenic hotspot since it gained popularity on the social media platform Xiaohongshu.

"Probably about 90 percent of the tourists are from the mainland. Most of them come on Saturdays, so they can relax for a day before going back to work, or they come for two consecutive days for camping." Lau said.

He noted that the situation that day was unprecedented.

He mentioned that hundreds of taxis shuttled back and forth, with some coming directly from the border checkpoints.

Lau said the queue of people waiting for transportation to leave was the worst in the evening.

“More than 500 people are in the queue, it's chaotic, I have never seen anything like this before."

"The Transport Department asked us to continue to provide services if there are too many people in the queue, and we managed to clear the queue at 9.20pm that day,” said LAu, adding their last ride usually departs at 7pm.

Meanwhile, the minibus driver said the main road reaching the High Island Reservoir, Sai Kung Man Yee Road, was unable to handle the high volume of traffic, with one-lane two-way traffic applied to a section of the road.

The government should consider resurfacing the road and widening the shoulders into lanes to accommodate the busy traffic.