Inter-Pol - Tang Ching (1967) - Route Twisk

In this final post for this film, we can see that some of the aerial footage of the escaping truck was shot above Route Twisk. The images below show the bends in the road next to the Hong Kong Gun Club (whose terraced berms can be seen on the left hand side in the bottom image) and a small squatter settlement called Tai Kiu Tsuen.

Just a bit later we see the truck crossing a wooden railed bridge that was located just a little bit down from Tai Kiu Tsuen. This section of road has actually been straightened a bit and this bend is not quite as sheer as it used to be.

Later in the chase we see another section of the road where it intersects with Tai Mo Shan Road. This is exactly the same place where Operation Lipstick shot some scenes the same year. Here's the reminder.

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu - Christopher Lee (1967) - Tai Mo Shan Road, Tai Mo Shan

Back to Hong Kong's highest peak for this next post. This time we are on Tai Mo Shan Road - a small service road that creep east up to the peak from Route Twisk. Actually, this road still forms part of the Maclehose Trail but the tail end of Stage 8. It's on the steeper part of the hill as we approach the summit.

We' re here this time because of an obvious landmark in the background of some of the screen caps. It's Kwun Yam Shan that stands at the west end of the Lam Tsuen valley and is notable for its very steep and pointy peak.

You can't see it from here, but on the other side of that pointy hill is the Kadoorie Farm and you can actually reach the top of the hill via a footpath inside the farm. Anyway, although in the film we see Kwun Yam Shan from various angles, this shot looks to have been filmed from a viewing/picnic area not far up the road called the Tai Mo Shan Lookout.

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu - Christopher Lee (1967) - Maclehose Trail Stage 9, Tai Mo Shan

So-called 'white washing' and 'yellow face' has been in the movie news of late (just look up any of the criticisms - valid or otherwise - of Birth of the Dragon, The Great Wall and Ghosts in the Shell), so what better time than now to break out one of the earlier offenders of this by looking at The Vengeance of Fu Manchu. The titular character being played by a 'yellow face' Christopher Lee.

In this film (made in 1966/67 at the same time as the other Harry Alan Towers-produced films Five Golden Dragons and The Million Eyes of Sumuru) Fu Manchu dreams up an evil scheme to kidnap his arch enemy and frame him for a murder.

The film crew did a great job at portraying Hong Kong as an isolated area of the Chinese hinterland by using some rarely used locations around the slopes of Tai Mo Shan - Hong Kong's largest peak. The seeming remoteness of the locations is cleverly achieved by wandering a short distance up and down the hillside from Route Twisk. In this particular location, which happens to be the opening scene, the film crew had to walk about 2 km along a dust track that went on to become part of Stage 9 of the Maclehose Trail.

If you are wondering about the exact location then you should enter these coordinates (2°24'0.31"N 114° 5'23.07"E)  to get a good idea of where it is. It's about 2km from Route Twisk (heading east) just past where the trail splits inside Tai Lam Country Park as Stage 9 continues northeast (the other section heads south east towards a place called Lin Fa Shan). I did cobble together a nicely stitched panorama which you can click on to view in better detail.

Sadly, no Streetview here because it's all trail and no car access. But looking at the odd photo I have seen the whole place is now verdant with tree growth so the views are no longer open. I'll try and get up there to grab some pictures for comparison over the coming weeks.