Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree

Lonely Planet review

Until a short time ago this large banyan was laden with coloured streamers of paper tied to oranges. The idea was to write your wish on a piece of paper, tie it to the citrus fruit and then throw it as high as you could up into the tree. If your fruit lodged in the branches, you were in luck. But things got out of hand, and in 2005 a large branch of the tree came crashing to the ground, dashing most punters' wishes once and for all.

Focus switched to another tree nearby, which became the new arboreal oracle while the original was left to recover. However this practice soon was stopped too. In the name of conservation, wish makers can now only tie their wishing papers to Chinese-style wooden racks. You can still buy the wishing papers from vendors but you're unlikely to find any oranges for sale. At least there's a small Tin Hau temple nearby, replete with fortune-tellers, to compensate for your curtailed wish making.

To reach the tree catch bus 64K from the Tai Po Market KCR East Rail station and alight at Fong Ma Po.