Alison

~ Hong Kong – Day Trip to Cheung Chau Island ~

Finally we have reached our day of freedom so that means we can eat out in restaurants and cafes. Today I decided we should leave the urban jungle behind us and head to one of the outlying islands. I last visited Cheung Chau in 1989 and unbelievably Anthony had never been in his 45 years of living in Hong Kong.

We caught the 11.15 ferry and grabbed a seat on the outside top deck to enjoy the sea air and sunshine. The slow ferry takes around an hour and no need to buy tickets as we could use our Octopus Card which is used for all transport in Hong Kong.

  • See you later!
  • Western Harbour Tunnel Entrance
  • A sneaky mask free selfie
  • “where are you Jack?”

Hong Kong is a country of contrasts; steel, glass and concrete skyscrapers dominate the skyline with dense green hills and mountains behind. Many visitors are surprised by the abundance of greenery and countryside that Hong Kong has to offer. It is a great place to hike in the cooler months.

  • A busy harbour
  • Hei Ling Chau Prison
  • Tug Boats pulling a ferry load of cement trucks

There are no cars allowed on Cheung Chau, the narrow alleyways are not big enough for vehicles to pass through. There are mini fire engines, ambulances and police cars for emergencies. I did see an ambulance and it was very tiny, if you were a tall person I think your feet would be hanging out of the doors! Everyone rides bikes here and bells are ringing from every direction and you have to be on your lookout as they speed through the alleyways and around corners.

  • A Cemetery on the hillside
  • Coming into Cheung Chau
  • First glance

After disembarking we walked along the harbour front looking for a place for lunch.

  • Boats, Bikes and Benches
  • Drying fish and meat
  • My Austrian eating an Austrian lunch
  • Eggenberg Cafe

Anthony was very surprised to find an Austrian cafe serving pork knuckle, one of his favourite dishes.

I had looked on the map before getting here and thought it might be nice to walk to the Mini Great Wall. A leisurely stroll is what I had in mind! Almost an hour and a half later, up many stairs and steep hills we ventured back into the village. It was one of those walks where I thought we can’t walk much higher and with Anthony up ahead saying we have to keep going.

Cheung Chau has many sandy coves and beaches, even though it is December we saw a few people swimming. It is home to around 20,000 people and has apartment style buildings designed for school camps. I remember both my children went to Cheung Chau for their year 4 camp when they were 8 years old for four nights.

  • The start of the hike
  • Looking down upon the Praya
  • Fire beaters – there are many hill fires during the dry months
  • Not quite at the top yet
  • Mini Great Wall
  • “Come and join me”

Above are images of the different rock formations dotted around the island. Also part of the “mini Great Wall”.

There are many houses up in these hills and we were wondering how difficult it would be for the occupants to bring shopping up. Not just that but how furniture is delivered and how on earth they were built in the first place. There were also many abandoned buildings.

Finally making it down again we walked back to the ferry through the labyrinth of streets and alleys.

Below are some more photos I have taken of various murals, small shops and stalls.

It was a fabulous day exploring Cheung Chau and a great place to visit if you have an extra day or two in Hong Kong. There is a completely different way of life here, where a more leisurely pace is encouraged.

Cheers and thanks for reading – have a great Sunday everyone!

28 comments

  1. Ali, I love how colourful the murals are. They brighten up the space around them. The one with the surf boards and the mural of buildings and boats are my faves. Thank you for your virtual tour and PPAC contribution.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Ali, what a fun trip. I was huffing and puffing with you up the hill to the Mini Great Wall. I love that! The rock outcroppings remind me of Prescott. Who knew they would look the same halfway across the world? The building definitely looked abandoned, but not so much so that they couldn’t be restored if you could get building materials up to the site. I loved the rock wall and the stairway to ghost heaven. Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 2 people

  5. I was surprised to read that you hadn’t visited Chung Chau for so long and that Anthony had never been as we’ve taken the ferry over there on numerous occasions over the years! Are there many overseas tourists around with the continued COVID restrictions? My friend flew Cathay Pacific over to Sydney two weeks ago but as she only had a short connection in HK, she saw the Sydney aircraft leaving the gate just as her plane touched down from Manchester an hour late! She had to wait almost an entire day for the next available flight so thought she would spend the day in the centre but due to tests and restrictions had to spend all the time in the Business Lounge, wasting a day of her holiday! The joys of travel!

    Liked by 1 person

    • It’s hard to tell if there are overseas tourists what with the masks, but I would take a guess and say no. The Cathay flight for us was too early as we wanted to be in HK as late as possible for Day 0. Nobody would be allowed out for the stopover as they need to do the three day quarantine.
      We won’t be back until that’s dropped.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. This is rather unexpected from my point of view, some very different perspectives on Hong Kong from those which we normally see. So it’s not all high rise and hi tec after all, well I never! Maybe we should inch it up the list a bit. Not while they’re still faffing around with COVID restrictions though! We’ll wait a bit… However I like what I’m seeing, it’s more varied than I previously thought.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks for your comments Phil
      There are many islands like this and you would definitely enjoy the hiking
      Yes we are getting fed up with the masks and daily RATs!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Looks like a great day out. A Virtual Tourist friend of mine, now a keen blogger, lives in Hong Kong and posts regularly about the different hikes she enjoy there. When we went years ago we only had a few days and stuck to the main sights in the city. It might be nice to go again and visit outlying places like this, but not while the Covid rules are still so strict.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I think many people who visit just do the same, it might look to difficult to visit the islands when in fact it’s so easy.
      I don’t think we will come back again until the rules have lifted. We are both getting very fed up of wearing masks

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Unfortunately, I was only in Hong Kong for a long layover. The day I went was when it was raining a lot. I would have not expected Hong Kong to have some greenery. I was impressed by how tall the buildings were in such a tiny country!

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