Follow Hong Kong Immigration to experience the joy of tourism in Hong Kong: Step into Ocean Park, and your eyes will be immediately captured by the picturesque scenery. Ocean Park Hong Kong is a marine-themed leisure and entertainment park located in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, covering an area of over 870,000 square meters. The park features the largest marine aquarium and theme park in Southeast Asia. Set against the mountains and facing the sea, the park is surrounded by water on three sides: Deep Water Bay to the east, the East Lamma Channel to the south, and Tai Shue Wan to the west.
Upon entering Ocean Park, you are first greeted by the uniquely landscaped Old Hong Kong, Green Garden, and Bird Paradise, with scenes of birds singing and flowers blooming suspended between the sea and sky. Immersed in this environment, all your worries are left behind.
Together with a few companions, I took the cable car from the base to the summit. From the cable car, the fun-filled open-air playground is laid out before your eyes, and from inside the car, you can enjoy the seascapes of Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay. The cable car glides up and down through the high altitude; some of my timid companions closed their eyes, afraid to look out, and kept shrieking as the car swayed. I am also quite timid and dared not look down at the bottom of the cable car, but looking up at the sky or across at the ocean scenery was no problem at all.
Arriving at the summit, not only can you watch dolphin shows, but you can also see exotic marine fish and the towering Ocean Park Tower. There are also thrilling rides like the Mine Train and The Abyss, making it a perfect park for sightseeing and entertainment.
Here, all attractions and activities are yours to choose freely, including eight areas such as Marine World, The Summit, Adventure Land, a water park, and Whiskers Harbour. We chose to visit Adventure Land, where we boarded a raft and sped down the rapids on an artificial river, passing through water sprays and enjoying a thorough drenching in the tropical rainforest setting.
There was a foreign family of three in the same boat—a man with two children—and we could hear their happy screams from time to time, echoing our own laughter. It was truly joyous and exciting. After getting off the raft, there was a young visitor who felt it wasn't enough and wanted to try the rides and the Ferris wheel. Given such high-altitude entertainment, I dared not attempt it and chose to wait on the sidelines.
While waiting, I admired the food plaza. Ocean Park prohibits visitors from bringing any food or drinks (except baby food) into the park, but the eateries inside offer a wide variety of food. The selection is visually appealing and appetizing; you can choose freely, though the prices are a bit high.
Even spending an entire day here, you will feel that you haven't played enough. We hadn't yet seen the Ocean Theatre and the Grand Aquarium, but the agreed-upon time to head down was approaching, so we had to reluctantly take the Ocean Express down the mountain.
The "Ocean Express," built in 2009 at Ocean Park Hong Kong, is the world's first funicular system operating in a theme park tunnel. It is 1,300 meters long with a gradient of 5.3 degrees. It consists of three connected carriages, carries 200 passengers at a time, and completes the entire journey in just 3 minutes. It has a one-way capacity of 5,000 passengers per hour. The tunnel funicular is unaffected by typhoons, heavy rain, or other severe weather, allowing it to operate in all conditions.
When we arrived at the base, the sky had already darkened. The lights of the entire Ocean Park were flickering, presenting a different kind of charm. Multi-colored fountains sparkled in the night, capturing the attention of visitors; the fountains rose and fell with the rhythm of the music, winning cheers from the crowd.