About Nei Sham Stream Waterfalls
The Nei Sham Stream Waterfalls (彌散石澗瀑布 [Mísàn Shí Jiàn Pùbù] or [nei4saan3 sek6gaan3 buk6bou3] in Cantonese) were essentially waterfalls that we noticed while riding the cable car towards Ngong Ping Village.
Indeed, it was kind of my waterfaller’s excuse to talk about the well-touristed Ngong Ping area, which is best known for the Tian Tan Big Buddha statue (天壇大佛 [Tiāntán Dàfú] or [tin1taan4 daai6fat6] in Cantonese]) – one of Hong Kong’s major highlights.
Most people who visit the Ngong Ping (昂坪) and the Tian Tan Buddha Statue do so by riding the cable car, which is probably the easiest and most convenient (albeit not the cheapest) way to get there from the station in Tung Chung (東涌).
The Nei Sham Stream is sometimes referred to as the “Thousand Layers Stream” probably because it has lots of these “layers” that gave rise to waterfalls.
We managed to notice this series of waterfalls on the final approach to the Ngong Ping Village (or as we initially left the village on the way back) as the sky rail passed over the Nei Sham Stream.
For the most part, we noticed at least two (maybe three) cascading waterfalls directly below us, but I’m sure there are more tiers to them (given that people associate this stream with a “thousand layers”).
Anyways, experiencing this series of waterfalls from above was kind of similar to how you’d experience waterfalls when flying over them by helicopter or drone or other aerial means.
In other words, you don’t really get up and close with the waterfalls unless you go on a much more difficult hike and scramble along a combination of the so-called Ngong Ping Rescue Trail and stream scrambling directly within the Nei Sham Stream itself.
According to my topo map, the shortest way to do this would be to hike from Ngong Ping Village for about 3km in a lollipop loop that would following along the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail for the first 1km or so to the Nei Sham Stream.
However, since it would meet the stream above the Nei Sham Stream Waterfalls, it would likely require looping back for about 700-800m around towards the lower reaches of this section of the stream.
This would be the stretch where you’d likely have to stream scramble up within the streambed or alongside it before returning to rescue trail and returning to Ngong Ping Village.
Alternatively, there are also people who have managed to experience more layers of the Nei Sham Stream in all-day adventures involving some of the roughest and hazardous scrambles to be found in Hong Kong.
We’re talking about clinging to narrow ledges, wading in rushing waters, clinging alongside wet slopes besides waterfalls, and bushwhacking through intensely vegetated ravines.
Indeed, for the majority of people who want to notice these waterfalls, the cable car is the best way to go.
That said, if you’re determined to get close to these waterfalls, there seems to be no shortage of bloggers and vloggers in the literature who have actually done this adventure from Tai O, Tung Chung, or Ngong Ping Village.
Authorities
The Nei Sham Stream Waterfalls reside near the Ngong Ping Village on Lantau Island in the Islands District of the New Territories Region of Hong Kong. It is adminstered by the Ngong Ping 360 Limited Company, which runs both the cable car and the themed Ngong Ping Village. For the latest conditions or other inquiries, you may want to try the Ngong Ping 360 website.
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