A Look around Lantau.

Actually I live in Lantau. It's the biggest island in Hong Kong, but it's nowhere near as populated as Hong Kong Island, as it is very mountainous with very little flat land. Lantau is a lovely place with wonderful hilly scenery, beautiful beaches and lots of fabulous hiking trails.

Today I decided to revisit some parts of Lantau that I like. I started by taking the bus to Tung Chung from where I live, then boarded the number 11 bus to Tai O. The trip to Tai O is quite long, around an hour, but the bus was comfortable and as I went early and on a week day, not crowded. It can be horrendous on a weekend.

Tai O means large inlet and refers to the place where the Tai O Creek merges with the Tai O River. Tai O is populated by the Tanka people. The Tankas are fishermen who traditionally live in houses built on stilts and positioned above tidal flats. Apparently people have lived in Tai O since the Ming dynasty, around 1368 to 1644.

Tai O is famous for seafood and although I wasn't tempted to eat any of it today, I was perfectly happy to photograph some of it as I wandered around Tai O's streets and market.

Tai O Market.

Oyster Shells.

Drying seafood and making shrimp paste.

Dried Fish.

Puffer fish.

Seafood.

Dried Fish.

Seafood.

Seafood.

Shark.

Fish and crates.

Fishing Nets.

As well as seafood Tai O is famous for stilt houses. The tide was largely out when I visited, so there was lots of mud. I've been here when there's been a lot more water.

Stilt Houses.

Stilt Houses.

Boats and Houses.

Boats and houses.

Stilt Houses.

Along the river.

Stilt houses.

Boats.

Boats and Houses.

Boats and Houses

Streets of Tai O.

Tai O.

Tai O.

Around Tai O.

Around Tai O.

Tai O River.

Tai O River.

Along the River.

Boats at low tide.

Along the River.

Boats and Houses.

Stilt houses when the tide is out.

I was pleased to see there were also some signs of Christmas dotted around.

Snowman and reindeer.

Christmas tree.

Tai O has a nice church and at least three lovely temples.

The church is a Catholic Church called Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It is next door to a primary school.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.

One of the temples is Kwan Tai Temple. This is located in the centre of Tai O on Kat Hing Back Street. Kwan Tai temple is the oldest temple on Lantau Island. It was built in honour of Kwan Tai, a Military General in the Three Kingdoms period, who was famous for his bravery, military tactics and loyalty. He is now regarded as the god of war and righteousness.

Shrine.

Kwan Tai Temple.

Kwan Tai Temple.

Kwan Tai Temple.

Kwan Tai Temple.

Kwan Tai Temple.

A second temple is Hung Shing Temple. This is located in Sha Lo Wan Village, next to Tai O. This temple dates from the eighteenth century. It was built to protect the village from strong winds and lashing waves.

Hung Shing Temple.

Hung Shing Temple.

Hung Shing Temple.

Hung Shing Temple.

Hung Shing Temple.

It's very windy near the Hung Shing Temple and the sea is quite wild. The scenery here is spectacular. Actually it reminded me very much of Scotland, made me feel quite homesick. There are great views of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge. This 55 kilometre bridge was built between 2009 and 2018. It's actually a mixture of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is the longest sea crossing in the world. It connects Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai together. These are the three major cities on the Pearl River Delta, or at least it would connect them together if anyone could travel between them.

Scenery near Hung Shing Temple.

Scenery near Hung Shing Temple.

Scenery near Hung Shing Temple.

Fisherman and bridge.

The bridge to Macau and Zuhai.

Scenery near Hung Shing Temple.

Scenery near Hung Shing Temple.

Another thing I liked about Tai O was that its walls had been covered with brightly coloured paintings which certainly cheered the place up and gave it a lot of character. The first painting I saw showed the Chinese pink dolphin. On weekends there are boat trips to see these, though I've heard the boat trips really just show you round Tai O, rather than find these dolphins. One good thing about covid is that with almost no high speed boats hurtling between Hong Kong and Macau the pink dolphin population is increasing.

Tai O is famous for pink dolphins.

Outside a local pub.

Painting of Tai O snacks.

Dragon Boats.

Tourists.

Flying Kites.

Chinese Opera.

Painting near Kwan Tai Temple.

Painting near Kwan Tai Temple.

Painting near Kwan Tai Temple.

Flowers.

Rickshaw.

Painting on a shutter.

Dragon Boat Races.

Tai O also had some quirky 'works of art' like its models of Snow White looking for a spouse, its fish made of rubbish, presumably to make people more environmentally aware, its flower arrangements and its dancing girl.

Snow White looking for a husband.

Environmental Fish.

Sorry, this seat is taken.

Dancing Girl. A more quirky side to Tai O.

Hats, Homes and High Seas.

All things circular

I am also going to add some pictures of things I saw or liked as I wandered around. These include rather large numbers of cats, flowers, houses that I found to be interesting, doorways, windows and bridges.

Window and Washing.

Walkway to houses.

Crown of Thorns..

Bicycle and Balcony.

Cat giving me the evil eye.

Doorway.

Bridge.

Decorations.

Walkway.

Decorations.

Bicycle and house.

Typical street.

Decorations.

Bridge.

Flower filled streets.

Fishing.

Flowers.

Narrow Streets.

Restaurant.

Cat on a mission.

Narrow Streets.

Colourful pot plants.

Sleepy Cat.

House with colourful tree.

Morning Glory or Railroad Creeper.

Fruit Drying.

Then I left Tai O and took bus number 1 to Mui Wo, which is also known as Silvermine Bay. There used to be silver mines here along the Silver River which flows through Mui Wo. I didn't do full justice to Mui Wo. I just looked at one of its temples and took a walk along its lovely beach - sort of - and past its famous hotel. I say sort of took a walk on its beach, as beaches in Hong Kong are currently closed due to covid. I walked on the walkway near the beach. At one point I ventured onto the beach, but they play very loud government announcements intermittently warning people to leave the beach or face a HK$5000 fine, about £500, quite an expensive visit to the beach. Needless to say, I left.

Mui Wo has a very nice hotel on its beach - the Silvermine Beach Resort. It also has a market, lots of restaurants, temples, a waterfall, a cave and some excellent hikes.

Temple, Mui Wo.

Temple, Mui Wo.

Silvermine Beach Resort.

Silvermine Beach Resort

Silvermine Beach Resort.

Beach.

Beach.

Beach.

Beach.

Beach.

Beach.

River.

River and mangroves.

River and mangroves.

River.

There are other beautiful parts of Lantau that I may or may not visit later. Cheung Sha and Pui O have beautiful beaches, but they will also be closed at the moment. Then, of course, there's the famous Po Lin Monastery and Big Buddha statue, however, I've read that the Big Buddha is covered up for restoration work at the moment and has been since June.