Visitors to a newly opened nature park created from abandoned farmlands in Hong Kong will be able to capture photos of birds in paddy fields and the shallow water habitat acting as a “mirror” of the sky during summertime.

The Long Valley Nature Park is part of the Long Valley freshwater wetlands, the largest man-made freshwater wetland remaining in the city, located between the Sheung Yue and Shek Sheung rivers in Sheung Shui.

After five years of work starting in 2019, the park opened its doors to the public in November, showcasing verdant paddy fields that conservation officials said would offer “seasonal exclusive scenery” at the park.

In an interview with the Post earlier this month, Alfred Wong, a senior nature park officer at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, said the paddy fields would be planted twice each year.

“The autumn-winter period around November and December is when the paddies become ripe and beautiful. Another batch will ripen from April to May, so please visit during those times if you want to observe a large golden-ripe paddy field,” he said.

“We also have many shallow ponds in the park, so you can snap a beautiful picture of a ‘mirror of the sky’ scenery when the sky is clear during summertime. The sunset view in Long Valley would be lovely too.”