Checkerboard Hill (Chinese: 格仔山), also known as Kowloon Tsai Hill (九龍仔山) and Tak Mee Mountain (德美山), is a small hill in the northern part of the Kowloon peninsula in Hong Kong. Standing at 98 metres (322 ft) tall, Checkerboard Hill is located next to Kowloon Tsai Park and the Lok Fu Service Reservoir Rest Garden (樂富配水庫休憩花園) of Lok Fu Park (樂富公園), and it is not far from Lion Rock Country Park.

Checkerboard Hill
格仔山
View of Checkerboard Hill. The faded checkerboard is visible.
Highest point
Elevation	98 m (322 ft)
Coordinates	22°20′09″N 114°11′03″E
Geography
Checkerboard Hill Location of Checkerboard Hill in Hong Kong
Location	Hong Kong

Name

The hill's name dates back to the time when airline pilots had to navigate towards this hill in order to land on Runway 13 of the now-closed Kai Tak Airport. Pilots would set their onboard navigation systems to fly the Instrument Guidance System (IGS) path straight towards a large red and white checkerboard on the side of the hill, then once the checkerboard pattern was sighted and identified, they would make a low-altitude right-hand turn to align visually with Runway 13.[1]

Kai Tak Airport was demanding for pilots, and it required special training, since the approach to runway 13 could not be flown entirely by instrument, but required instead to aim towards a fixed obstacle, and then break away visually to land on its right.

Closure of Kai Tak

Following the decommissioning of Kai Tak and the opening of Chek Lap Kok International Airport, the hill and the checkerboard remained abandoned, wherein the latter became faded overgrown with new trees. The checkerboard was not restored probably because it may confuse pilots landing at Chek Lap Kok, since the Kai Tak Runway 13 approach also involved flying over Lantau Island.

2020-2021 restoration

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, between 2020 and 2021, the checkerboard was repainted on both the west and south sides, back to its original colours, and overgrown trees were removed. Both the restored Checkerboard Hill and Kai Tak Runway Park now act as a monument to Kai Tak Airport.

See also

• Geography of Hong Kong
• List of mountains, peaks and hills in Hong Kong
• Lion Rock

References

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