A Visit to “Long Island”長洲
February 22, 2009 Leave a comment
Yesterday, the weather was good… little fog. So we decided went "island hoping" once more. This time, we went to Cheung Chau Island.
The ferry took us about 45 minutes at very little cost of HK22 per pax. We sat in the "Deluxe Deck" – Elkan ran out to the open deck with his binoculars. It was very windy and cold. As usual, sea-sick Mummy was meditating quietly – ignoring our pleas to sit out at the open deck.
Cheung Chau is a totally different island from what I have imagined. I thought of it as the "Pulau Ubin" of Hong Kong but it offers much more! It reminds me of Taiwan’s 淡水 village. Cheung Chau is an old seatown of a population of 30,000. Despite its old settings, It is quite an interesting & lively place. There are lots to see, shop and eat. It is really a nice place to spend a weekend. No wonder there are many small temporary motel kiosks outside the ferry terminal. You can easily rent a room for less than HK600. (There is even a mini HSBC bank and Mcdonald right outside the ferry terminal.)
We spent 3 hour hiking around the small island (and twice, we have to look high and low for Tracy’s urgent toilet request!). The beach is pretty narrow (but much cleaner than the one we saw at Discovery Bay) and we saw a couple of people wakeboarding and wind-surfing there. The over-publicised 3,000 year-old Rock Craving is an overstatement. It is small and isolated (not worth the hike to see).
This small town does have its own authentic and unique offerings (but limited) – like the "PingAn Buns" and "dried seafood". There is a small shop along the beach where you can find "Tornado Fried Potato Chip". Shopping is relatively cheap (compared with HK island) but there aren’t a lot of "local products". A lot of the handicrafts shop carry products from Indonesia and Philippine. (Sigh, another example of Tourism Erosion – where a place loses its cultural authenticness to mainstream tourism).
Seafood is great – as good as what we had back home in Singapore. Especially in this cool weather, it is a great joy to dine in the open by the pier and watch the sunset. And it is an eye-opener for me, watching those "boat people" cooking and eating on their own boat-houses.
I do enjoy myself a lot here. It is a good getaway from the over-congested Hong Kong. And it is only 45-minute away from Central Pier. A nice and affordable place to chill out.
12 years away from home - Singapore. Writing my stories here for my lovely mum & dad, friends and most importantly, for my wife & son back home. A self-confessed gadget freak, a spontaneous prankster on the outside and a warm loving heart inside. Enjoying a happy life with loving families, friends plus a dream job. Realising mum’s motto – “Exceed Yourself Every Day”. Always believing that “Simplicity is Beauty”.
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