This truly is an oasis of green amid the urban landscape of Hong Kong. This park is so beautiful and features an aviary, greenhouse, lily ponds, fountains, waterfalls, the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, and some playgrounds for the children. It even has a marriage registry and we witnessed at least 4 separate weddings taking place here. According to my research "the aviary features more than 150 species of birds in a carefully designed tropical "rainforest".

Pay a visit to this park either before or after your tip up Victoria Peak as it is a stone’s throw away from the Peak Tram.

After visiting the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, I wondered if I should even bother with Hong Kong Park. Having just seen an incredible green house and endangered mammals, but not being able to get close to birds due to avian flu concerns, what could this park offer? As it turned out, the 30m tower overlooking tea houses, lakes, and a lotus garden was a mere warm-up.

A conservancy, divided into three areas, housed a cactus garden, tropical plant garden, and humid hot house. The cactus garden seemed to draw the most attention from locals. I gather dessert varieties are more unusual here. The tropical garden consisted of walking path over bridges and through small palms and ferns, with bromeliads and split leaf vines caressing the walls. Canna lilies and lobster claws provide color peeking out from behind the taller plants. My favorite was the humid garden, with several varieties of exotic plants. Plants with green flowers have always intrigued me due to their rarity, and black flowers were something I had only read about. Here I found a blood lily so dark in color it appeared black. Better still was the bat flower that actually was a clump of black flowers hanging downward. I could not imagine a more fitting name.

Much to my surprise and delight the aviary was open. Although the cement path along the streams on ground level was inaccessible, the wooden plank pathways among the treetops were open. This tropical rain-forest setting was home to some 90 species, including multi-colored lorikeets that appeared to be clowning around and the brightly colored bluebirds. There were also vocal mynas and macaws, as well as pelicans and some not-your-ordinary pigeons.

Being at eye level with the birds and having natural lighting in the background photography was heightened.

Though the labyrinth of small side streets in Hong Kong Island seems to squeeze the city like a vise, it doesn’t take much searching to find one of the many meticulously manicured parks and gardens that dot the island. Some are strictly used as space for practitioners of tai chi, while others include jogging tracks, basketball courts, and flower gardens. Located at the base of Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Park is far and away the most stunning of the lot.

Smiles seemed to be permanently etched on everyone’s faces as they strolled through this well-laid-out park on a breezy Saturday afternoon. I moved aside as a newly married couple hurried by, and watched as children gazed, rapt with attention, at turtles struggling to find a sunbathing spot on small logs that peeked out of a large, artificial pond. On beautiful days like this, it's not unreasonable to think one could spend an entire afternoon strolling these impeccably kept grounds. And with unabated views of the towers that dominate the downtown Hong Kong skyline, this makes an outstanding location to whip out the camera and test your photography skills.

As you brush past the many water fountains and ponds, admiring the astonishing cleanliness of your surroundings, make sure you head over to the western part of the park, where you’ll find the conservatory and Edward Youde Aviary. I didn’t check out the conservatory, though a walk-through did seem worthwhile, and was crushed when I found out that the aviary was temporarily closed due to the scare surrounding avian influenza. That’s a shame, because the aviary is gorgeous, at least from the outside looking in. A surprisingly inconspicuous mesh netting made of steel engulfs the area and the 150 or so Southeast Asian birds inside. The birds didn’t seem to notice any sickness going around, as we could hear them chirping and see them flying from tree to tree.

Not far from the aviary and bordering the tai chi park is a 30-meter-high lookout tower. Though the warning sign near the bottom claims that the 105-step trek up the winding staircase "requires strenuous activity," go ahead and work that ass—by no means is this climb difficult, and once you get to the top, you’ll be glad you burned some extra calories. From up here, you’ll get incredible views of the Bank of China building, the forwardly designed Lippo Centre, and all their surrounding counterparts. Load up the film—this is another key spot for snapping photos.

This was one of the most impressive parks I’ve ever visited. Though it doesn’t take up a huge chunk of land (less than half a square mile), well-thought-out planning and landscaping makes the most of what there is. Since you’ll likely be taking a ride up to Victoria Peak, tack on an extra hour or two to your excursion to allow time for a little wandering through this gem.

Hong Kong Park is one of the parks which is located in the city centre of Hong Kong. You can't imagine how expensive it is to build such a big park. It's very normal to go to a national park in United States, Canada or United Kingdom. But in Hong Kong, the price of the land is so expensive that, a park costs over billions to build it.

Inside this park, there are few places that are worth going.

1. Greenhouse: You could discover different plants in different climatic zones, like tropical rain forest, dessert, etc. It's good for children to take notes about the plants on their little note book. 2. A net with bird: It's another good place for children... the children can see many birds above their heads! 3. Tea Museum: If you like Chinese culture, then it's definitely a great place to visit. Different kinds of teapots are illustrated in this museum. You can have a deeper understanding in tea culture and how people make tea, and how they make a cup of tea. There are many different methods in different parts of China. 4. There is a lake in the park. Some fish and ducks are relaxing around. Spend an afternoon here is very nice, it's hard to breathe in such fresh air in the city centre of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Park, which is built into the side of a hill, is best known for it's free zoo. There's no admission, just a number of animal exhibits strewn about the park's walkways. As you climb higher up the hill you'll find quite a few large mammals on display, including some acrobatic apes and monkeys who take advantage of their large cages. The poor jaguar seemed very perturbed by his limited space for stalking back and forth.

The park has some nice waterfall areas with red-beaked cranes. I didn’t find out what the conservatory building was used for, as it had just closed for the day when I stopped in to take a look. I actually ended up back at this park when I was trying to find an alternate path back down the hillside after riding the mid-level escalators up to the top.