Route Twisk, the narrow road that winds its way over the western shoulder of Tai Mo Shan, is a popular route for Hong Kong's motorcyclists and there is often evidence of an accident or two on some of its many corners.
Halfway down the southern slopes of Route Twisk, towards Tsuen Wan, sits Chuen Lung Tsuen (Dragon Stream Village). Tai Mo Shan - at 957 metres Hong Kong's highest peak - gets more rainfall than any- where else in the city, and the clear mountain stream brings fertile abundance to the valley it carves through the village, one of the few parts of Hong Kong where fruit trees and vegetable fields still flourish.
The village is renowned for tea houses, of which the best known is Choi Lung. It's been in business for 43 years and was opened by the late Tsang Chiu-leung. It's now run by his son, Tsang Hin-lun.
Chuen Lung was settled by the Tsang clan in the 1500s, after they relocated from Huizhou, in Guangdong province. The village now spills down the hill alongside the fast-running, clear stream.
There's a bridge high over the stream as you head deeper into Chuen Lung, away from the heart of village houses and towards the fields that support them. Apricots grow thick on large trees and red-whiskered bulbuls flit from branch to branch, a large flock in animated chatter. Hikers stroll towards the meal at the end of their road, past a small factory that produces deer-horn liquor.
On weekends, Chuen Lung is crowded with day-trippers, but the main street is sleepy the rest of the time. Even on weekends, you're only likely to meet a hand- ful of villagers or visitors if you head off the main street and wander around the crooked lanes and farm tracks paved with crumbling cement.
