Coming to a close.

Clearwater Bay First Beach, Hong Kong.

When I was little, I loved listening to Jackanory - a TV programme, where for fifteen minutes every week day a variety of presenters would read installments of a children's story book. One of my favourite stories was called 'The Moon on the Water' by Nina Warner Hooke. In this story a group of wooden carousel horses, who are about to be burnt as firewood, magically come to life and escape. Although this has absolutely no similarities to my day out whatsoever, when I was thinking of a title for my trip to Clearwater Bay, it suddenly sprang to mind, so I adapted it to fit.

A few months ago I followed the Lung Ha Wan Trail from Tai Hang Tun to Lobster Bay and thought to myself: 'I should come back and explore more of this area'. Well yesterday, I finally got round to it. When I was looking into what to see around here, I discovered that the oldest and biggest Tin Hau Temple in Hong Kong was in this area. I had first heard of this temple several years ago. I had read it was very inaccessible and that most people only went here during the Tin Hau Festival in April when special boats were put on. This may have been true at one time, but it's certainly not true any more. I think in the past this area could only be accessed on foot or by sea, but now there is a road.

Well, regardless of how lovely Joss House Bay Temple is, it seemed like a long trip to see one thing, so I started to look for other things in the area and I discovered a little fishing village called Po Toi O Chuen and that both the temple and the village were within walking distance of the beaches of Clearwater Bay.

It took me quite a while to get to the start of my explorations. I had to catch a bus, travel on three MTR lines and then take a minibus - a travel time of around two hours. I basically live at the opposite end of Hong Kong.

I began my day out in Po Toi O. To get there I went to Po Lam MTR, exited through Exit B1 and walked towards the shopping mall. Before entering the mall, I headed left down an escalator into Metro City Phase Two public transport interchange. I wandered around until I found the minibus part and then found minibus number 16. The final stop of this minibus is Po Toi O fishing village. If you just want to go to the temple, you should get off one stop earlier at the Clearwater Bay Country Club. The temple is just three minutes walk from here.

I was very impressed with the coastal scenery on this journey and was delighted to be able to see it all at my leisure later on when I walked from the temple to the beaches.

Po Toi is Chinese for 'sack' and O means 'bay', so this is the village situated on a sack shaped bay. The villagers here mainly make their living by fishing and there are two seafood restaurants in the village. Apparently, these are popular at weekends. I was here before lunch time on a week day, so they were fairly quiet.

One of the seafood restaurants is down here.

Seafood restaurant.

Seafood Restaurant. Choose your own fish.

The village has a small Hung Shing Temple which dates from around 1663. I also came across a couple of shrines.

Shing Hung Temple.

Lion outside the temple.

Doorway in Shing Hung Temple.

Shrine in Shing Hung Temple.

Village shrine.

Village shrine.

I wandered around for a while. It should have been a peaceful place, but there were some noisy road works being carried out in the centre of the village. Very typical of Hong Kong. I liked some of the colourful village doors. There were also some weird and wonderful plants around.

Doors decorated with wishes for good luck in the new year.

Decorated door.

Decorated doors.

Strange plant in a doorway.

There was a pier in the centre of the village. I walked out to the end of it and took photos, including some of fish that were hanging up to dry here, but unfortunately the camera setting on my phone had gone wrong, so they all came out overexposed. I was not worried as I think I still ended up with plenty of pictures. There were some nice views over the water and several colourful boats bobbing around.

Looking at Sack Bay.

A little jetty out to the boats.

Boats in the bay.

Lots of boats in the bay.

Boats by the pier.

Lots of boats in the bay.

I had read that it was a steep walk up Po Toi O Chuen Road back to the Tai Au Mun Road, but I didn't find it steep or difficult. I think the person who wrote that must have done it on a summer's day. Walking anywhere here is horrendous in the heat. If you do the same walk again in the cooler months, you often can't believe how short it is.

Po Toi O Chuen Road sign.

Views on the walk uphill.

Views on the walk uphill.

Views on the walk uphill.

Selfie on the way up the hill.

At the top of Po Toi O Chuen Road I turned left. There were signs for Joss House Bay Temple. I could see the entrance to Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club ahead of me. I had thought this walk may involve walking in the road, but fortunately there were pavements the whole way. Just in front of the country club, on the right hand side, there was a path to the temple. The whole walk from Po Toi O to the temple is only around 800 metres, so pretty short.

Sign for Joss House Bay Temple.

Path down to the temple.

To get to the temple I walked straight down the path and down some stairs. At one point the path split. One part continued straight on; the other went to the left. It had a sign in Chinese saying where it was going, but I had no idea what it said, so I decided to ignore it and continue straight. That turned out to be the correct way.

Before I got to the temple, I reached a large rock. This has the oldest dated inscription in Hong Kong. It was carved in 1274 and is now a declared monument. The inscription records a visit by a salt administration officer during the Song Dynasty.

Rock with inscription.

The temple is very close to the rock. It is located in Tai Miu Wan, which literally translates as The Bay of the Big Temple. In English, however, it is normally called Joss House Bay.

Side view of the temple.

This is a beautiful temple and, as I said before, is supposed to be the biggest and oldest Tin Hau Temple in Hong Kong. It is believed to date back as far as the Sung Dynasty and was built around 1266 by Lam Tao-yi, a Fujianese salt trader. The Lam Clan looked after the temple until 1939 when it was handed over to the Chinese Temples' Committee.

All around the outside of the temple there were colourful windmills turning in the breeze. The Chinese believe that spinning a windmill will bring them good luck and it's common to see these in temples. I don't think I have ever seen so many anywhere else though.

Windmills.

Close up of Windmills.

The view through the windmills

The temple is constructed from grey bricks and has murals above its door. Its roof is made of green tiles.

The front of the temple.

Incense in front of the temple.

Incinerator in front of the temple.

Inside the temple there are models of boats and images of Tin Hau surrounded by her attendants.

Incense coils and Tin Hau images.

Incense coils, Tin Hau and her attendants.

Boats.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Paper offerings.

Roosters.

Looking out of the temple doorway.

There were other shrines, too, including a colourful Buddah shrine. There are also drums and bells. In some Chinese Temples you cannot take photos. Here, I'm pleased to say, they didn't seem to mind.

Images of gods.

Buddha.

Buddha.

Personally, I was delighted to see that this temple to the goddess of the sea is still located on the waterfront, so many Tin Hau Temples are no longer near the sea due to land reclamation or because they have been dismantled and relocated.

There were just a handful of visitors when I was here. Apparently when it is Tin Hau's birthday, on the 23rd of the third moon of the Chinese calendar, thousands of worshippers flock here. This temple is a grade one listed building and is open daily from 8am to 5pm.

After wandering around the temple, I walked down to the sea. There's a long pier here. Some people were fishing at the end of it. I could see Tung Lung Chau, an island I want to visit, in the distance.

Looking down on the pier from the temple.

The pier.

The Pier with Tung Lung Chau.

Coast from the pier.

The front and Tung Lung Chau.

There was a tiny sandy beach here. The whole place was incredibly peaceful.

The beach.

Beach.

How to park your boat on the beach.

Looking back at the temple from the beach.

When I had seen all I wanted to see here, I climbed back up to the country club and headed towards Clearwater Bay Second Beach. This was about three kilometres away. I walked there along Tai Au Mun Road, which had pavements for the whole route. I was delighted with the coastal views along the walk.

Looking down on Po Toi O Chuen from the main road.

Looking down on Po Toi O Chuen from the main road.

Coastal views.

Coastal views.

Coastal views

Selfie with coastal views.

Selfie with coastal views.

Wild flowers on route.

At one point I noticed there was a statue on the other side of the road, so I went over to take a look. It was a kingfisher and it was marking one of the ways up High Junk Peak. This is a difficult walk up a 344 metre high sharp peak, which supposedly has fantastic views. Apparently High Junk Peak's Chinese name translates as Kingfisher Mountain.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher and route up the peak behind him.

There were some people flying a model aircraft in this area. It kept shooting up into the air all over the place making a tremendous noise.

I kept walking and in a short time reached a bus station. The 91 bus which starts in Diamond Hill terminates here. Behind the bus station, I walked down stairs to Clearwater Bay Second Beach. I've been here several times, but not for years. It was smaller than I remembered, but that may just be because the tide was a long way in. It was a lovely warm day, but it's February and I would imagine the sea is pretty cold, however to my surprise there were several people in swimming. Some elderly Chinese people are incredibly hardy and swim all year round.

This rather unimaginatively named Clearwater Bay Second Beach is more popular than its sister beach known, also unimaginatively, as Clearwater Bay First Beach. The sand is finer here. There are toilets, changing rooms, a refreshment kiosk and a shark net. The last known fatal shark attack in Hong Kong happened at Clearwater Bay in 1995.

Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Brave swimmer.

Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Shrine on Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Selfie on the beach.

Looking down on Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

Looking down on Clearwater Bay Second Beach.

I read there was supposed to be a footpath between the beaches, but there were workmen repairing something on the pathway and it was closed, so I could not find this. I climbed back up to the main road by going up an incredibly steep path. Then I walked to the first beach along the main road. Although this involved more walking and too much climbing up and down, it did have the advantage that I found good view points to look down on the beaches.

Clearwater Bay First Beach is 108 metres long. To get to it, you have to go down a lot of stairs. I certainly would not like to climb back up them in the height of summer, that's for sure. I noticed there were some barbecue pits here.

Welcome to Clearwater Bay First Beach Sign.

Looking down on the beach from the stairs.

Clearwater Bay First Beach.

Clearwater Bay First Beach.

Clearwater Bay First Beach.

Clearwater Bay First Beach.

Waves breaking on the beach.

Shrine on the beach.

Selfie on the beach.

Nonstop stairs.

Looking down on Clearwater Bay First Beach.

Looking down on Clearwater Bay First Beach.

After having a wander around this beach, I climbed up all the stairs to the road and began the epic trip back home. Although it was a long way, it was certainly well worth it.

Pink cherry blossom against the blue skies.

Today, I decided to go to Tung Chung and walk out of town on Chek Lap Kok South Road towards the airport to see the cherry trees that are currently in full bloom there. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone else in Hong Kong had the same idea!! Although it is a week day, it was absolutely mobbed!!

These cherry trees were planted in 2021 as part of an initiative pioneered by the Hong Kong Aviation Authority to beautify the environment around Chek Lap Kok Airport. They began by planting ten cherry trees along one side of the road. Later they planted even more trees on the opposite side, bringing the total number of cherry trees up to around a hundred. That sounded to me like a sight well worth seeing.

A Cloud of Bright Pink Cherry Blossom.

I decided to do an online search to try and come up with a good title for this blog, so I googled cherry blossom quotes and was drawn to one by a Japanese writer called Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. It's taken from his book 'Sasameyuki' which apparently translates as 'A Light Fall Of Snow'. I have pasted the full quote below. Sachiko is one of the 'The Makioka Sisters' - the main characters in his story. They apparently spend a lot of time lamenting the passing of their earlier lives.

"The ancients waited for cherry blossoms, grieved when they were gone, and lamented their passing in countless poems. How very ordinary the poems had seemed to Sachiko when she read them as a girl, but now she knew, as well as one could know, that grieving over fallen cherry blossoms was more than a fad or convention." Jun’ichirō Tanizaki

Such beautiful flowers.

Anyway to get to the cherry trees, I went out of Tung Chung's covered bus station and crossed the road towards the open temporary bus station, then followed Tat Tung Garden Path between this and the cable car station. This path led me to a pedestrian bridge. I climbed up the stairs and crossed the road to the waterfront. I paused to take some photos of some stunningly beautiful bauhinia trees. One had lilac blossoms and the other had white.

White Bauhinias.

White Bauhinias.

White Bauhinias.

Lilac Bauhinias.

I then headed left from the bridge, walking by the side of the road, rather than by the waterfront. I soon came to a bridge and walked across this enjoying the lovely views. The cable car trundled by overhead on its way to the Big Buddha.

Looking at the cable car from the bridge.

Cherry blossom garden sign on the bridge.

There were so many people I had to walk really slowly. It reminded me of trying to wander through Causeway Bay on a Sunday. Yes, that bad.

Crowds on the bridge.

At the far side of the bridge, I was now on Chek Lap Kok Island. I came to the original ten cherry trees. They were gorgeous, but a little past their best. I photographed them anyway as I had space to do so, since most people hurried by to reach the greater number of trees on the other side of the road.

Close up of some cherry blossom flowers.

Some cherry blossom was pale pink, some was darker.

A cluster of cherry blossom.

I had been thinking the road would be hard to cross as it is full of traffic shuttling back and forth from the airport, but there were actually traffic wardens who stopped the traffic intermittently so that people could cross. Otherwise it would have been chaos.

Most of the trees on this side of the road were at their peak, but it was really difficult to move around due to the crowds. Most people were trying to take selfies which was really difficult due to the constant passing of human traffic. I did not bother with selfies and just concentrated on the blossom.

Crowds in among the blossoms.

Crowds at the cherry trees.

The cherry blossom was certainly plentiful here.

And at its peak time for viewing.

Such a cheerful sight.

When I could stand no more of the crowds, I walked to the waterfront and enjoyed the views out across the sea. Many other people were doing the same thing.

Down by the waterfront.

Down by the waterfront.

Boat passing by.

The strange thing was that it is February. The weather has been cold and grey and foggy for days, but today the sun came out and the temperature shot up. I always wear sunscreen, but I still ended up getting burnt.

I decided to cross back over the road and climb up Scenic Hill. This is a small hill, 253 feet above sea level, with views over the airport and over Tung Chung.This should be an easy and short hike, but because of the unexpected heat, it really wasn't easy at all. Everyone was puffing and panting. The problem was there was very little shade.

Stairway to Scenic Hill.

Path on Scenic Hill.

At the top of the hill there is a trigonometrical marker and a pavilion. The pavilion provided shade but it was jam packed full of people, so I could not really escape the sun there either.

Trigonometrical marker.

Trigonometrical marker.

Pavilion.

Lots of people were climbing on the rocks here to pose for selfies.

Posing on top of Scenic Hill.

Posing at the top of Scenic Hill.

From this spot there are panoramic 360° views. I could see the Silveri Hotel in the distance and realized I was standing right in the middle of the view I keep taking from our bedroom window when we stay there.

Looking over the airport.

Looking towards Tung Chung.

Looking down on Tung Chung.

Looking at Caribbean Coast,Tung Chung.

Mountains in the distance. Silveri Hotel in the middle.

Looking back at the bridge I had walked across.

By this point I was so hot, I was beginning to fear I would get sunstroke. I wandered back down the hill. When I got back to the waterfront, I was feeling a bit better as there was some shade around, so I decided to walk along by the edge of the water. This is my third time here. The first time the promenade was not completely built and I could only walk along about half the length it is now. The second time I came here in the dark for Mid Autumn Festival, so this was the first time I have seen the whole walkway in the light. It's quite nicely done with seating areas, flower gardens and brightly painted buildings.

Sign for Tung Chung Promenade.

Looking out to sea from Tung Chung Promenade.

Photogenic seating area on Tung Chung Promenade.

Looking down on Tung Chung Promenade.

I really liked the chili pepper plants in one of the promenade gardens.

Chili peppers.

It's possible to catch a ferry to Tuen Mun from here, but it does not sail very frequently.

Tung Chung Ferry.

There was some Tung Chung themed artwork decorating the promenade.

Waterfront playground and artwork.

Artwork showing the Big Buddha and cable car.

Artwork showing the airport.

Artwork showing Tung Chung Fort and Temple.

To my surprise I suddenly came to an area filled with blossoming cherry trees and to my even greater surprise there was noone else there. I got some of my best photos of the day here. Later more people came, but it was still nothing like the area by the airport.

Cherry trees on Tung Chung Promenade.

Brightly coloured building and cherry blossom.

Cherry blossom on the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

Cherry blossom on the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

Cherry blossom at the Tung Chung Waterfront Promenade.

As always, I had some grocery shopping to do. When I got home, Peter would not believe me when I said I was all sunburnt. He just kept saying: 'What are you on about? It's February.' I can still feel my face burning even now and I have a headache from too much sun.

I sent some pictures of the cherry trees to my friend Jason, and he wrote back to say: 'Where are you with all these blue skies? We are in a dense fog here.' I was beginning to feel I must have wandered into a parallel universe - and a pretty hot one at that.

A group photo of our visit.

Yesterday I met up with my friend Agnes, her friend Ivy, her T.A. Lok and twenty-six of Agnes's students from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. We were all going to Christian Zheng Sheng College, located in a remote area of the Chi Ma Wan Peninsula on Lantau Island.

Christian Zheng Sheng College is not normally open to members of the public and to get there it was necessary to travel to Cheung Chau, then take the college's own private boat to the school. This trip involved an early start. I had to get up at six o'clock in the morning. When I worked, I did this all the time, but I am now rather out of practice, to say the least. It was still dark when I got up and the weather looked grey and bleak.

The college we were visiting is part of the Christian Zheng Sheng Association which was founded in 1985 by Jacob Lam Hay-sing when he opened a rehab centre in Kam Tin in the Western New Territories. Zheng Sheng translates into English as 'repent and live.' This organisation attempts to help drug abusers overcome their addictions and reclaim control of their lives.

Christian Zheng Sheng College was founded in 1998. At the moment it has thirty students, the youngest of whom is twelve years old. Currently, ten full time teachers work at the school. Most of the students have a background of drug abuse, some have experienced severe problems at home, some have special needs such as: autism or hyperactivity. Whatever their background, they were all being sucked into a downward spiral of failure in the regular education system and some of them even fell foul of the law. Christian Zheng Sheng College aims to give them the chance for a new beginning.

At the ferry pier in Central, Agnes introduced us to Jacob Lam, the founder of the school, and he sat next to me on the ferry ride across, so I was able to ask him lots of questions about the school. It was very obvious that he feels passionately about it.

Students who want to enroll in the college have to commit to attending for a minimum of two years. After that they can choose whether to stay at the school or enter another one. They live in, as boarders and their parents can only come and visit once a month on a designated day.

The students' living accommodation is quite basic. There is no hot water and aircon is only allowed when the temperature rises above a certain point in the summer months. The students spend their mornings at school where they are able to take advantage of a high standard of education and lots of individual help. They are no longer faceless members of an oversized class who can slip into failure without anyone even seeing it happen. They know their teachers and carers well, as they live with them full time like a family. Some of them also take part in zoom lessons, given by volunteer overseas instructors.

In the afternoons the students work. This serves many purposes. It keeps them occupied and out of trouble. It teaches them many skills such as cooking, cleaning and building. I say building, because the students are actually helping in the construction of some parts of the college and in making the furniture inside it, too. Some of the students also learn hairdressing skills and the college runs a hairdressing salon on Cheung Chau. The students grow pineapples on the college grounds. The college also has an excellent photography and video making group known as Zheng Online Offline Media Academy, or ZOOMA for short. The students involved in this group learn photography and film making skills and use their skills to help create films for weddings, social events and sporting events such as races.

These boys are part of ZOOMA.

As you can see some of the students' activities help generate funds for the school. This is necessary as the school is constantly involved in an uphill battle to gain funding to help with its daily expenditures.

Our tour around the school began at the pier, where a group of students were waiting to unload supplies brought across on the boat and carry them uphill to the college. Even managing to get the pier built was a battle and before its construction the students and staff had to carry all supplies up to the college on an uneven dirt path. At the end of the pier a rock is emblazoned with the school emblem, which is a variation on a cross.

Boarding the boat to the college.

Our captain.

The voyage over.

We arrived in sea fog, but later the sun came out.

The school emblem.

Ivy on the pier.

Clean sea and rocky shore.

Before we went up to the school, we had to undergo disinfection. They have already had one outbreak of Covid and they didn't want another.

Walking up from the pier.

Jacob in front of the room with the self disinfecting machine.

Going up to the girls' dormitory.

We walked up to the girls' dormitory where we were met by a group of smiling teenage girls and a rather annoyed barking dog called Happy. Happy wasn't pleased at having so many strangers invade his territory. He was put away inside a large cage and one of the girls climbed in with him to soothe him.

The girls' dormitory .

Friendly faces greet the visitors.

Inside the girls' sleeping area.

Calming Happy down.

The Chinese University students will make some video clips about their visit.

The college.

God Bless You.

Splashes of artwork brighten the place up.

Splashes of artwork brighten the place up. I don't know what the characters say.

Apples decorate the walls.

Noah's ark.

I called this installment of my blog impressions, because on a half day visit I can not claim to know everything about this college. Also while some of the information being presented about the school was translated into English for me and any other non-Cantonese speakers in the group, not everything was, so I may have missed things and can only judge on how I felt. What I noticed about the girls who were students at this school, was their closeness. One of them was called to talk about the school in Cantonese and then in English. Doing a presentation like this in front of a large group of strangers can be extremely nerve-wracking. The young girl did an excellent job and her friends were right there with her to cheer her on. Not only that but the girls stuck together in a clump during our visit and I feel this was a form of mutual support. We were able to see where the girls studied, cooked their food, ate and slept. I feel pretty certain that these girls are forming close bonds that will last them a lifetime.

Next, we began walking towards the boys dormitory. We stopped for a while not far from the basketball court and Jacob told a story about how one time, late at night, two of the students broke into a hut where some medical supplies were kept for the students. They stole four pills. One of them took two of the pills, but could not achieve the high he wanted, so his friend suggested he took all four, which he did. Later that night the boy who took the pills started having convulsions and had to be rushed to hospital. When he recovered, he and his friend were given another chance. To take their mind off drugs, they were asked to copy out the bible. When that didn't work they were given the job of getting rid of a huge, unmovable rock next to the college's playing field. They were given just basic tools. They tried burning materials next to the rock to make it crack and also spent many hours chipping away at it. In the end, it took seven years to remove the rock completely. Jacob told the story to illustrate that at times obstacles may seem insurmountable but with persistence they can be overcome.

Looking down on the college grounds.

On the way to the boys' dormitory.

The seven year rock was located around here.

Basketball court.

In the boys' dormitory, we went to see where they washed. Their bathroom has a huge pool of cold water and they wash by scooping it up in containers and throwing it over themselves. We later saw this on one of the films the students made and could hear the screams that accompanied their early morning ablutions. Jacob pointed out that the school has recently installed solar panels and can generate its own electricity. They can also use this to heat the water, but he's not sure that they will, as he considers the cold showers to be part of their training. His view is life's hard and you need to be tough to deal with it.

Who's for a cold shower?

A simple wooden cross.

Sayings from the bible on the wall.

Crosses and quotes.

Again, if I talk about impressions, my impression of the male students I saw here, was how mature and self composed they seemed. Through the training they receive at the college, they have gone from being completely off the rails to being confident, disciplined, polite and self-assured. This is a great achievement and it shows why so many of the students here have gone on to make successes of their lives, either by getting into good universities or finding themselves good jobs. Remember these were people the world had given up on only a few years before.

The boys dormitories also contained gym equipment which they use to keep themselves fit. Some of this equipment they made themselves for example by attaching slabs of concrete onto a wooden pole and using it for weightlifting. In one of the films we saw, someone was exercising using a storm drain cover.

Gym.

Trying out the gym equipment.

The students here won all of these.

Near the students' gym there was an open area. As we saw later on a film produced by the children, at one point this had been used as a makeshift hospital. The school here is secluded from the outside world, but unfortunately a member of staff unintentionally brought COVID into the school community. During the outbreak, healthy students and staff were kept separate from sick ones and the sick ones slept on mats in this open area. More mats were propped up vertically around them to help them to isolate. The healthy members of the college cooked food for the sick ones and cared for them as best as they could. On one of the videos we watched, a student talked about growing closer together by caring for their sick brothers. I noticed the students referred to the other students as their brothers and sisters, like they were all one big family.

This open space became the hospital ward.

Love.

Near the gym there is a room with computers which the students can use to further their education both in learning about computers and in overseas zoom sessions.

Computers.

Computers.

We passed through the kitchens where students were busily preparing their own food. Jacob paused to introduce us to one of the student chefs.

Preparing lunch.

One of the chefs.

The boys' dormitory.

Then we came to a pond surrounded by blossoming cherry trees and went up some stairs to the newest and most modern part of the college. ZOOMA has facilities here. There were also a lot of musical instruments and a student was playing the piano beautifully in one of the nearby rooms. My impression here was that the school was affording the students the kind of opportunities they would never have obtained in their previous schools. I'm not saying such opportunities wouldn't be available but they would not have gone to students who were already struggling. The students here were learning how to play musical instruments, how to make movies, etc. This is wonderful.

The newest building with blossom.

The newest building with the pond.

The pond.

Cherry blossom.

We watched three films created by the students. The ZOOMA teacher explained that he himself was a former student at the school and that his wife, he had only recently got married, is one of the other teachers. We watched several films made by the students. They covered things like the students battle with COVID, their life at the school and several outdoor activities they take part in. There was also a film showing the ZOOMA group covering an overseas race in Jordan which one of the staff members had taken part in.

We watched the movies here.

The ZOOMA teacher.

At the end of the film there was a question and answer session. Jacob introduced us to several books about the school, which I assume were available for purchase. One of them was written by Agnes.

Jacob holding up books about the school.

That was the end of the tour and we made our way back down to the pier ready to return to Cheung Chau. We suddenly became aware that it had been sunny the whole time we had been at the school. Several of us had become so relaxed, we almost forgot to put our masks back on. It was a different world.

Looking down on the pier.

Leaving the college.

Me on the return journey from the college.

Ivy and I on the return journey from the college.

A farewell look.

Back in Cheung Chau, we walked along the boat filled waterfront, then went for lunch in Hung Lok Seafood Restaurant. We had a creamy corn and crab soup, then prawns cooked in wine, fish, celery and roast chicken with browned crispy skin. It was an excellent meal and good value, too. I always say I don't eat lunch, but whether it was because of the early start or the fresh sea air, I realized I was starving and ate tonnes.

Boats line Cheung Chau Harbour.

Boats line the waterfront in Cheung Chau.

Our restaurant.

Prawns, chicken and celery.

After the meal, I headed back to the ferry pier, but Agnes, Ivy and one of Agnes's students went off to sample mango mochi - one of the dessert highlights of Cheung Chau.

Agnes and I vy had a great day exploring Cheung Chau. There's so much to see here.

Travelling back on the ferry, it suddenly occurred to me that the students who graduate from Christian Zheng Sheng College, despite their unfortunate start, are probably better equipped to deal with life and all its challenges than those with lesser problems who graduated from an ordinary school. That I think says it all.

Kwong Pan Tin Squatter Village, Tsuen Wan.

I had intended to go to Clearwater Bay today, but it was stormy all night - winds howling, rain pouring down. In the morning it looked dark and rainy, so I decided to change to a shorter, easier walk. Of course, when I got there, the sun had come out.

I was heading to Kwong Pan Tin Squatter Village in Tsuen Wan. To get there I took the MTR to Tsuen Wan and exited through Exit A3. I entered the brightly coloured corridor that leads to Discovery Park, but I walked on the right hand side and kept an eye out for an old bridge that goes across the railway line. When I reached this, I exited the brightly coloured corridor through some metal doors and went onto the bridge.

The colourful walkway to Discovery Park.

Looking out at the old bridge over the railway line.

Me on the old bridge over the railway line.

I crossed the bridge, walked along the path on the other side of it, then went through a tunnel decorated with a triangular pattern. After the tunnel, I went left and climbed up the stairs. At the top of the stairs I was on Route Twisk which connects Tsuen Wan to Shek Kong. This area is at the foot of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's tallest mountain. I went left and began to walk uphill.

In the triangular patterned underpass.

Stairway to Route Twisk.

After maybe fifteen to twenty minutes, I could see a multicoloured wall and a gigantic banyan tree on the other side of the road. The village I was heading to was about five minutes further on, on the same side of the road as the painted wall, just past a bus stop marked Kwong Pan Tin Tsuen Phase Two.

The undecorated Kwong Pan Tin Tsuen Phase One

Colourful wall and banyan tree.

Looking up at part of the squatter village.

This mural marks the entrance to the village from Route Twisk.

Why would anyone come all this way to see a squatter village? Well, that's because the village has been beautified by the local residents and a group of volunteer parents and their children. There are colourful paintings at the entrance way. The main stairway through the village has been turned into a rainbow, several walls, rocks and houses have been brightly painted and covered with artwork.

Just past the entrance steps there are two little pigs welcoming visitors to the village. There's also pictures of chickens, images of children collecting honey and paintings of a river filled with fish. All of these tell of the village's rural past when the inhabitants raised animals for food.

The welcoming pigs.

Children gathering honey.

Chickens.

On the wall at the back of this area there's a mural showing tourists flocking here to take photos. I don't know about tourists, but there were certainly quite a few Hong Kongers here for exactly that purpose.

Tourist photographers.

I climbed up the rainbow stairs to a bright yellow rock that has been painted as a house from a fairytale. This seemed to be the most popular spot for photos. There was a big group of people taking pictures here.

The yellow house.

Me in front of the yellow house.

I headed to the left and followed a stairway decorated with pictures of pigs towards a colourful house, a real one this time, with lots of flowers in its garden. There were many paintings of animals on its walls. It looked quite idyllic.

Pig Staircase.

Colourful village house.

Colourful village house.

Parrots and pigs.

Then, I headed back to the yellow house. On the other side of it there was a large open space with beautiful children's paintings on the wall. Looking at them was like flicking through the pages in a children's picture book.

Kwong Pan Tin Squatter Village, Hong Kong has been beautified with murals painted by local children.

Pigs, pigs and more pigs.

After taking many photos here, I climbed up the rainbow path, past the yellow house. There was a pretty mural showing an apple tree. I passed a house with an attractive green door.

Rainbow staircase past the apple tree painting.

Apple tree painting.

Green door.

The walls on both sides of the rainbow stairway were decorated. Sometimes the paintings showed things from the village's past, for example, there were once bee hives here and the paintings showed bees inside their hexagonal cones making honey.

The Rainbow Stairs lead the way through Kwong Pan Tin Squatter Village.

Murals line the rainbow stairs.

Hiding dog.

Mural on the stairs.

Honey bee mural on the side of a village house.

Close up of honey bee mural.

Children gathering honey.

Me with the honey murals.

Other paintings showed some of the fruit that was grown here in the past. There's probably still some grown here now.

Villager collecting fruit.

Villager collecting fruit.

Picking fruit mural.

Fruit Mural.

Trees, flowers, fruit and bees.

Near the top of the stairs there was another open area. There were paintings here of wild boar and monkeys. I suppose both of these might be found in the wild here, though I associate monkeys more with Shing Mun and Lion's Rock.

Wild boar, orange flowers and honey mural.

Wild boar mural.

Houses, flowers and murals.

Monkey mural.

Even the village houses that weren't decorated looked quite picturesque.

Village house.

Village house.

I'm not sure exactly why this village was painted. It may just have been to make it look better, or it may have been because, being a squatter village, it was threatened by demolition and the inhabitants felt they could save it by turning it into a tourist attraction. Whatever the reason, it's certainly worth a look and it isn't even necessary to do the short walk I did to get here. Bus 51 stops right outside. I used that to get to the start of my walk when I climbed up nearby Tai Mo Shan.

On my walk back down the hill, I stopped to look at a little church on the other side of the road from the brightly painted wall I saw on the way up. There was a pretty garden here with flowers and views of some of Tsuen Wan's high rise buildings.

Church.

Blue flowers.

It was still early, so I decided I would continue past the MTR station and revisit Sam Tung Uk, a former Hakka village which is now a museum. I was glad I did, because, although I have been here before, much of it was closed on that visit due to COVID. This time it was all open.

Before going in, I took some pictures of the wall paintings outside the museum. This walled village was once home to the Chan Clan. They were rehoused into more modern accommodation and their ancestral home became a museum.

Lions and Puppets.

Pagodas and paper cut crafts.

Temple and dragon.

Painting of dim sum.

Photo of the Chan Clan who once lived in this village.

I quite like the buildings themselves. I always look at the architecture when I enter a building, especially an old one. There's a beautiful entrance way with couplets written over the door to bring good luck and ward off evil. Then there's a central area decorated with many lanterns and behind that the ancestral hall where the ancestors can be worshipped. Each room had an area for collecting rain water, so that in a rain storm the building did not flood.

Entranceway.

Lanterns in the central area of the walled village.

Lantern.

Looking through an opening in the roof.

Ancestral altar.

Pathway.

Pathway.

A lot of the exhibitions focused on crafts. There were videos and displays on making umbrellas, mahjong sets, puppets, galvanized objects, decorated plates, heads for the dragon dance and more.

Mahjong set.

Dragon dance heads.

Parts for puppet making.

Finished puppets.

I rather liked the musical instrument display. You could look at examples of the instruments and hear them being played.

Musical instruments.

Musical instruments.

Photos of people playing musical instruments.

There were also displays and videos about festivals and traditions. These showed how to make traditional food for certain festivals and how to make lanterns to celebrate the birth of a male child. Other displays showed the floating children of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. I'd love to see this, but am put off by the crowds.

Dim sum making.

Lantern for a newborn boy.

Photo of floating children at the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.

One part of the museum had been kept as a village house and each room was furnished in traditional style. I found this part quite interesting. There was lots of information about what everything was. Although there was an upstairs part this wasn't furnished and it wasn't possible to go there. I think this is to prevent damage to the stairways.

An old kitchen.

Kitchen in Hakka house.

Dining room in Hakka house.

Bedroom.

Bedroom.

Store room.

After looking at the museum, I had a quick walk round its gardens, then headed to Fusion, near the train station to buy some groceries before returning home. In the end I felt quite glad it had rained.

Garden.

Garden.

Kam Tin Home to Fertile Fields and Distant Mountains.

My friend Agnes likes to have many strings to her bow. She is a qualified teacher, journalist, published author, dim sum chef and farmer, to name but a few of her talents. She has been inviting me to her farm in Kam Tin for months, but somehow I had never got round to actually going until last Friday.

Together with five of her friends, Agnes leases two plots of land in a village on the outskirts of Kam Tin, where they grow a wide range of vegetables and herbs. She actually learned about farming through a training course run by Kadoorie Farm, which I visited in my last blog. It may not be true if you have to do it every day and in all weathers, but as something to do part time, a spot of farming can feel very restorative and calming. After all practically every one of us must be descended from people who had to grow or catch their own food if we go back far enough.

Agnes and I met in the morning at Kam Sheung Road MTR Station and walked through Kam Tin to the farm area. Although I have been here before, I couldn't resist taking at least one photo with Kam Tin's colourful murals. I like Kam Tin. It seems to move to a much more relaxed beat than the rest of Hong Kong. People have actually been known to say hello to me when I go there or smile and nod. Believe me, you won't experience that in Central!!

Agnes and I posing with murals.

Pretty lanterns.

Anyway to my surprise, Agnes's farm turned out to be in Shui Mei Tsuen, Kam Tin. This means Village At The Tail Of The Water, and I was surprised because I had been here before when I explored Kam Tin for the first time. It's very close to the Bridge Built for the Convenience of Mother, which I wrote about in a previous blog. I'll add the photos I took on that visit here.

Bin Mo Bridge, meaning Bridge Built for the Convenience of Mother.

Hundreds of years ago a villager named Chun-yuen Tang built this bridge, so his widowed mother could easily visit him and his family, without him having to carry her over the stream.

As you can probably tell, I love finding out the origins of place names and when I saw Agnes's farm, I was reminded of the origins of Kam Tin's name. Long ago this area was called Shum Tin. I'm guessing this may just have been based on the surnames of one of the clans living here. Then apparently, in 1587 southern China experienced a terrible drought. The magistrate in charge of the area requested villagers to donate grain. Only Tang Yuen-fan of Shui Mei Tsuen was able to donate a plentiful amount and as a reward the area he came from was renamed Kam Tin, which means Fertile Fields.

If you look at the photos I took of the farm, I think you will agree it's a pretty accurate name.

Agnes surveying her kingdom.

The Fertile Fields.

Everything is healthy and green.

Everything is crunchy and fresh.

It's a very well kept farm.

And the surroundings are incredibly peaceful.

Agnes pointed out that behind the farm there is a large strawberry farm. It's possible to go here, and for a fee you can collect a container and fill it with your own hand picked strawberries. In the distance we could see a group of school children enjoying a trip there. This farm also had tall straight fields of corn.

The strawberry farm.

Fields of corn.

The man in charge of the whole farm area came to talk to us. Agnes referred to him as Uncle Chan. Uncle Chan is very much on the ball. He keeps his eyes open for what needs to be done and when it needs doing. First, he got us to trim a row of green kale which was becoming overgrown. Agnes told me we should snip off the older, larger leaves to let the smaller ones hidden underneath grow.

When we completed that, we set about removing all the tomatoes from a tomato vine that was getting a little past its best. When we had finished removing all the tomatoes, we trimmed back and uprooted the whole vine. Uncle Chan said the empty row would be perfect for growing aubergines.

After that we also uprooted a whole row of purple kale, which was edible but hadn't grown as well as expected. This freed up more space for another crop.

When our work was done, we got ready for lunch. I was given a huge bag of kale, tomatoes, two types of lettuce and an assortment of wonderful herbs to take away with me. The herbs included mint, basil, rosemary, lemon grass and parsley. That should keep Peter and I going in veggies for a while.

Agnes mentioned that sometimes she takes the vegetables she has picked to a nearby restaurant and gets them to cook them for her. I think that's a great idea and maybe we will try that on my next visit.

For this visit we decided to go to Tuen Mun where Agnes lives, so we took a taxi to Castle Peak Bay in Tuen Mun. Here we went to a Chinese restaurant called Hoi Tin Garden Restaurant for dim sum. Agnes tells me this restaurant is the best Chinese restaurant in Tuen Mun and that it has been around for a long time. She also said when she was a child, her parents used to bring her and her siblings here as a special treat if they had been good.

Welcome to Tuen Mun Sign.

Hoi Tin Garden Restaurant.

Agnes with the restaurant's Chinese New Year display.

I only ever go out for Chinese food when I am with Chinese people, because they know what to do, while I am always rather lost. A meal always starts with sterilising all the crockery and cutlery in hot tea. This restaurant does not have an English menu and to order, you read through a large selection of dim sum and tick the ones you want. We had: congee, steamed pork buns, shrimp wonton, shrimp rolls, a vegetable dish containing tomatoes, mushrooms, celery and lettuce, and a large plate of turnip cake. For dessert we had hot sesame balls and a steamed dish I don't know the name of. On the outside it's like a steamed bun and on the inside it's like a moon cake.

Turnip Cake. This is a Chinese New Year speciality, although it is called cake, it's savoury rather than sweet.

Shrimp roll, shrimp wanton and steam pork buns.

Tomatoes, mushrooms, celery and cabbage.

A very filling and tasty meal.

The food was very good. The restaurant like all Chinese restaurants was very big. It occupied several floors. It was also very busy and noisy, with lots of waitresses running around. I would say this is typical for a Chinese restaurant here.

After eating we took a stroll down to the waterfront. There are lots of fish stalls here. People can buy fresh seafood to take home and cook, or buy some to take to the restaurant we had just visited and get them to cook it for them. There was an interesting assortment of weird and wonderful creatures: such as crabs, shrimps, lobsters, sea cucumber and many more I could not recognise. I'm not at all knowledgeable about shell fish.
To my surprise, Agnes said several of the creatures on sale had been imported from Scotland. I couldn't name them at the time, but later found out one of them was a kind of razor clam. Actually, when I think about it, I do think I have seen these in Scotland.

Crabs.

Those are pretty big crabs.

Fish.

Lobsters.

Prawns and Shellfish.

Shellfish.

Shellfish.

Past the shellfish stalls there is a pier jutting out into Castle Peak Bay. There is a wide range of boats here and the whole area is colourful and interesting for a stroll. Actually Tuen Mun is quite an interesting place with a bit of everything: beaches, parks, temples, shopping, hikes.

Castle Peak Bay Waterfront Promenade.

Looking over the bay.

Lots of little boats.

A busy harbour.

The tall mountain in the background is Castle Peak.

Busy harbour.

When we had finished our walk, we jumped onto a light rail train. Again this is fairly new to me, as this transport system can only be found in the Western New Territories. I think I've only been on it a handful of times. Finally, I switched to an airport bus which would drop me in Tung Chung, near my home. Agnes always laughs at me, because I think Tuen Mun is miles and miles away from Tung Chung, but it is actually just on the other side of the water. I blame the MTR for my geographical ignorance, I always argue: "But they aren't on the same rail line. They must be far apart."

What a lovely day out and I'm still eating my way through my hand picked farm produce. We've been enjoying fresh salads and kale pasta dishes. Thank you very much, Agnes.