Por Lo Shan is a small hill located between Leung King Estate and Shan King Estate. Por Lo Shan (Chinese: 菠蘿山; lit. ‘Pineapple Mountain’) is a 121 m (397 ft) high peak in the western New Territories of Hong Kong. – Wikipedia.
However, one must not confuse it with the Pineapple dam at Shing Mun. This is a hill. Also, sometimes the area is closed for People’s Liberation Army and police firing real-fire practices as it is located within the Tsing Shan firing range. Warnings are issued to the public before live military exercises are carried out. Some days the Fire Range is open to the public, but before venturing into the restricted area, it is best to check the days on which the area is open to the public by searching for “fire range” in the Hong Kong Government press release website.
Here it is:
https://www.search.gov.hk/result?query=firing+practice+2021&ui_lang=en&ui_charset=utf-8
The press releases regarding the fire range for a month is typically released one week prior to the beginning of that month. Normally, weekends and public holidays are non firing days and one can visit the Pineapple mountain.
Sunday 21st March is celebrated as the beginning of spring and a new year by Zorastrians ( Parsis) in many parts of the world. And I being half a Parsi decided to celebrate this new year with a new hike. So Nigel, Mikhail and I along with our friends Zarrah, Chintan and their daughter Zoesha took an Uber ( to save time) to see the Grand Canyon of Hong Kong.
Difficulty: 3/10 a bit of a steep slope to climb to Leung Tin Au.
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes approximately 7.23 kilometres and 74 floors climbed.
How to get there: Take the train from Central ( if on Hong Kong island) to Tsim Sha Tsui on the Tsuen Wan line (red line). From there walk to East Tsim Sha Tsui and take the train to Siu Hong MTR on the Tuen Mun line. (West Rail Line). From Siu Hong MTR Station, go towards the exit for Track 5 Light Rail Platform and take the light rail train ( LRT) #505 to Leung King.
At Leung King LRT , cross the tracks towards San Wai Court. Walk through it and then you will reach Leung King Estate.
We walked through the gate and finally took a left and got on to Castle Peak Range road.
The climb was a bit steep at the start itself. We passed by a lot of statues on the left. It was like a mini shrine.
We also passed these cute lucky cats on the way uphill. They were actually coin banks kept on the side.
We came to a pavilion where some of the hikers took a break.
We passed the Tsing Shan firing range sign too as we climbed uphill.
The kids Mikhail and Zoe seemed to enjoy the climb. They came across flowers and some pigeons pecking on bread.
We continued uphill.
It started to drizzle so we took refuge at a sit out area shaded by the greens on the trees. We snacked a bit and clicked some fun photos.
Post the fun photo shoot, we decided to take a right towards a rocky rugged path. If you go left there’s a concrete path that will take you to the canyon too. However, we were feeling a bit adventurous and were bored climbing uphill on the concrete trail. 
The left path below:
The path was fun and not too difficult. The soil was a golden brown which was a lovely sight. My princess ‘Mikhail’ used an umbrella to protect himself from the slight drizzle whilst he climbed 🤷🏻♀️. 
We could see castle peak in the distance and many adjoining trails. However, with a son who is averse to hiking; exactly the opposite of his mother, we decided to stick to the Leung Tin Au path to the canyon. 
We came to a makeshift gymnasium which was fun for the kids. Zoe and Nigel tried gymnastics, Mikhail tried heavy weights and I enjoyed the views and the cane swing. 
We clicked some photos and then headed on our way. 
We hadn’t reached the canyon, but the views were pretty. We tried to figure out the pineapple name for the mountain, but were clueless. People say it resembles a pineapple bun of Hong Kong but we felt the hills resembled the outer covering of a pineapple. 
We walked down a slope and towards the canyon. Till then I was a bit disappointed as patience was and is not my forte. 
Finally we were getting close. 
We enjoyed the scenery and clicked some photos. With kids it’s always fun. So Zoe and I climbed up on a rock and Mikhail got himself clicked too. 
We continued on our way, again passed a danger sign and could also spot the Grand Canyon of Hong Kong.
And finally we were there. Por Lo Shan ‘s Grand Canyon 🥳🥳🥳. 
It was beautiful!! The colours of the terrain, the gorge…. it was quite an amazing sight to see. 
We decided to head down as we were getting hungry. So down the slope we went. 
We got to see this lone handsome dog chilling and enjoying the views. The funny part was there were quite a few hikers clicking photos of this new celebrity. 😁
We headed down towards Castle Peak range road and got on to Nim Wan road. This was a longggggg walk. Shenzhen could be seen in the distance. It was hazy so we couldn’t see much but the skyline was easy to spot.
We got on to Nim Wan road and continued walking. There were some paintings on display along the way. 
We continued on our way. We passed through a swamp, dilapidated abandoned houses and more paintings. 
Finally we came to a pole which had numbers to call a cab and a sign stating mini bus. We took the left and walked to Ha Pak Nai village. There were some local restaurants and the mini bus stand number 33. 
We had to wait for approximately 40 minutes as there was a long queue along with being feasted upon by humongous mosquitoes. We bought some chips and pretzel sticks and waited. (The 33 bus takes you to Yuen Long. )
http://www.16seats.net/eng/gmb/gn_33.html
Finally the bus arrived, we hopped on and got off at Yuen Long, booked an Uber to Central and dined at Calimex , Hollywood road. A perfect end to an awesome Sunday.
This hike is a family hike and a dog friendly hike too. It’s not too difficult but quite far. Don’t forget to carry mosquito repellent as it’s very much needed when you wait for the bus. You can end your hike at the Pak Nai beach too.
This hike is worth a one time visit. I think I’d be more interested exploring the many trails surrounding it and hiking up Castle peak. But it’s a nice family day out kinda hike.
Do try it and let me know whether you enjoyed it.
Happy Hiking and stay safe!