7. The Long and Short of Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau 长洲 is one of the so-called remote islands of Hong Kong. While the Hong Kong main island, the Kowloon pennisula, and the New Territories including Lantau are where almost the entire population of Hong Kong resides, there are a few populated islands - Cheung Chau, and Lemma Island are the two largest.

We visited Cheung Chau yesterday. The ferry from Hong Kong to Cheung Chau took a leisurely one hour through very calm waters. Since it's still steamy hot (at least to us), we paid the extra $6HKD for luxury class seats, i.e., it's air-conditioned! The total fare is $17.50 HKD, not bad for a short cruise through the harbor. For our return trip, we took the 'Speed Boat' which cut the trip time to a half-hour and the fare up to $22.00 HKD - still very cheap by US standards.

The photo is the old Cheung Chau pier which now seems to be just a place for old folks to hang out and enjoy the sea breeze. I thought the sampans parked along side look really cool.

We strolled around the island faithfully following the tour map provided by the Hong Kong Tourist Association. It took us up and down the island, through the beach where there were only a few bathers since this is a week day. The rest are small one-car wide streets lined with smelly shops that sell dried sea food and baked goods. We also see some of the temples, here's a nice looking one:



It is actually right smack in the middle of the island at the peak. The god worshipped inside is the most famous general in historic Three Kingdoms period - General Kwan who is now worshipped by businessmen and policemen as their patron saint.

Cheung Chau was supposedly, at least from what I've heard, a very nice weekend resort with luxurious cabanas and hotels. Alas, we didn't find any. Instead, the hotels and buildings everywhere seem run-down and neglected. It seems the booming economy of Hong Kong has passed by Cheung Chau. I feel sad. I went there when I was a teenager and enjoyed the trip a great deal then.

Luckily, just when we were ready to sail back in the late afternoon, we came across these wonderful kindergarteners. The teachers were taking them on a field trip to purchase fruits from the fruit stand. They were totally cute. See for yourself!