Happy to have found the 乾隆古道 Qianlong Ancient Trail
Paul Tsang Sunday 1 November 2026
The Qianlong Ancient Trail is located inside Lion Rock Country Park. Although it has no association with Emperor Qianlong, this stone paved ancient trail winding in the valley is rather legendary. Legend has it that in the old days, Sha Tin was abound in agarwood (Incense Tree).
Porters carried agarwood on their backs along this ancient trail and then transported them to the Hong Kong Island. There has been a saying that the name of Hong Kong is directly associated with incense trees. In that case, this ancient trail also added a sense of folklore to Lion Rock.
In Ming dynasty in southern Dongguan, all incense products made in Xin’an (including present-day Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories) were all transported on land to the incense pier in Tsim Sha Tau (i.e. Tsim Sha Tsui), before they were shipped from Shek Pai Wan to Guangzhou, and then moved on land to Suzhou and Hangzhou for sales.
Since all incense products were centralised for freight forwarding, the port became known as Hong Kong – the port of incense.
In 1840, British fleet arrived at the port and asked for its name. Fishermen living on boats at Aberdeen told them it was called Hong Kong (pronunciation same as Incense Port). Subsequently, China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanking, and the name of Hong Kong was extended to cover the whole island. The English transliteration Hong Kong came from the Tanka accent of fishermen living on boats.
Published during the Jiaqing reign of Qing dynasty, an entry in the section “Produce – Wood” in the Gazetteer of Xin'an County mentioned, “Incense trees are grown in large quantities within the county; from the East route, those that originated from places such as Lik Yuen (Sha Tin ), Sha Lo Wan (north western Lantau) are better...” From this, one could see that Incense trees were grown, and incense were harvested and produced in quite many locations in the New Territories in early 19th century.
This ancient trail was the main route that villagers of Sha Tin and Tai Po villagers took to Kowloon. Villagers heading for Kowloon to source local and imported goods must travel along this ancient trail. Since Tai Po Road opened in 1902, villagers no longer need to climb mountains and ridges to travel between the New Territories and Kowloon.
On Sunday 1 November 26, I was lucky to have found the "乾龍古道 (Qianlong Ancient Trail)" signage while practising for the 20 November 26 Oxfam Trailwalkers.
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乾隆古道 Qianlong Ancient Trail
Happy to have found the 乾隆古道 Qianlong Ancient Trail
Paul Tsang
Sunday 1 November 2026
The Qianlong Ancient Trail is located inside Lion Rock Country Park. Although it has no association with Emperor Qianlong, this stone paved ancient trail winding in the valley is rather legendary. Legend has it that in the old days, Sha Tin was abound in agarwood (Incense Tree).
Porters carried agarwood on their backs along this ancient trail and then transported them to the Hong Kong Island. There has been a saying that the name of Hong Kong is directly associated with incense trees. In that case, this ancient trail also added a sense of folklore to Lion Rock.
In Ming dynasty in southern Dongguan, all incense products made in Xin’an (including present-day Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories) were all transported on land to the incense pier in Tsim Sha Tau (i.e. Tsim Sha Tsui), before they were shipped from Shek Pai Wan to Guangzhou, and then moved on land to Suzhou and Hangzhou for sales.
Since all incense products were centralised for freight forwarding, the port became known as Hong Kong – the port of incense.
In 1840, British fleet arrived at the port and asked for its name. Fishermen living on boats at Aberdeen told them it was called Hong Kong (pronunciation same as Incense Port). Subsequently, China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanking, and the name of Hong Kong was extended to cover the whole island. The English transliteration Hong Kong came from the Tanka accent of fishermen living on boats.
Published during the Jiaqing reign of Qing dynasty, an entry in the section “Produce – Wood” in the Gazetteer of Xin'an County mentioned, “Incense trees are grown in large quantities within the county; from the East route, those that originated from places such as Lik Yuen (Sha Tin ), Sha Lo Wan (north western Lantau) are better...” From this, one could see that Incense trees were grown, and incense were harvested and produced in quite many locations in the New Territories in early 19th century.
This ancient trail was the main route that villagers of Sha Tin and Tai Po villagers took to Kowloon. Villagers heading for Kowloon to source local and imported goods must travel along this ancient trail. Since Tai Po Road opened in 1902, villagers no longer need to climb mountains and ridges to travel between the New Territories and Kowloon.
HK history
Paul - this is a valuable addition to our knowledge of HK's pre-colonial past and the origin of its Fragrant Harbour name. Thanks.
On Sunday 1 November 26, I…
On Sunday 1 November 26, I was lucky to have found the "乾龍古道 (Qianlong Ancient Trail)" signage while practising for the 20 November 26 Oxfam Trailwalkers.