Sunset Peak

Sunset Peak, Tai Tung Shan, rises to 869 metres on Lantau and is the third highest summit in Hong Kong, but its character is different from the others: the upper slopes are open grass rather than scrub, and in late autumn they fill with silvergrass whose seed heads catch low sun and turn the whole ridge silver, which is when almost everybody comes. Scattered across a saddle below the summit stand around twenty small stone lodges, built in the 1920s as a hill retreat and now mostly shuttered, giving the plateau an oddly abandoned look. The standard route climbs steeply from Pak Kung Au on the Lantau Trail and continues over the top toward Mui Wo.

What you actually see

• Autumn silvergrass - seed heads turning the ridge silver in low sun.
• The 1920s stone lodges - a shuttered hill retreat on the saddle.
• Open grass slopes - unusual in a territory of dense scrub.
• Views over Lantau and the sea - the ridge line in both directions.

When to go

October to December for the silvergrass and clear air. A day. The climb from Pak Kung Au is a relentless staircase and takes well over an hour. Sunrise and sunset trips need a torch.

Honest expectations

The ascent is a long, steep, unshaded stair climb that people badly underestimate. Silvergrass weekends bring crowds and queues on the path. There is no water, food or shelter on the mountain. Cloud often sits on the ridge.

Nearby

Lantau Peak is west; Mui Wo lies south-east.