Long island

While on exchange, I had a three-day school week and plenty of time to explore Hong Kong. So I decided to make my way down to Cheung Chau (長州) on a very random note, after realizing that this is the place where McDull (麥兜), that cute cartoon pig, learnt how to climb a 包山 during the annual Bun Festival from his bald sifu. The island is said to be nicknamed "dumb-bell island" because of its shape.

Anyhow, there were no 包山s around when I was there; the festival is held annually in May (I think), but there were quite a number of people around, both visitors and islanders, and I did have a good time doing the long stretch of coastal walk. The island is not exactly big, but it'd have been much wiser of me to have rented a bicycle to cover more areas in that short afternoon.

And here are some pictures from nearly a year ago:

#1 Berthed - Some of the remaining fishing fleet of the island.

#2 Ladies speak up.

#3 BB Kill indeed!

#4 Water-front dining; lots of seafood restaurants here

#5 View from the coastal walk

#6 Tried to imagine what it'd be like to do a beach start here.

#7 Just a couple of 師奶 who just went grocery shopping

#8 It was nice to stop by the lovely beaches to watch the waves wash ashore and feel the sea breeze in my face

#9 Can't help but wonder if this angler went home with any catch(es) at the end of the day

#10

#11 Tricycles for rent; it seemed fairly common for couples to rent this while I was there

#12 Moody-looking sea

#13 The weather was just starting to turn warm then

#14 This should be (not verified) a karang guni uncle/auntie's home; it was felt a little strange (and maybe eerie too) to see this soft-toy at the entrance of some sort of courtyard with many other old things lying around - partly due to Mandarin oldies playing in the backdrop too.

#15 A rather unfamiliar nursery rhyme on magpies that someone shared with me sometime back:

One for sorrow 

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret, never to be told

Eight for a wish 

Nine for a kiss

Ten for a bird you must not miss

#16 Long Island's Hachiko?

#17 Out-of-operation

#18 Looks deserted, but it's not

#19 Modern-day kampong?

#20 Looking out to sea

#21 Island fire brigade; entrance shutters

#22 How the locals get to their boats (that are berthed a distance from land); by using a raft made of jerry cans and pulling themselves forward!

#23 Near sunset

#24 Sun is setting, sun is setting

#25 Derelict would be an appropriate word to describe it

#26 Sunset sea 

#27 Friendly couple I met on the island; the wife was on one of those tricycles and offered me a lift to the other side of the island. The lady shared with me some of her life stories; notably events that led to her Christian beginnings before we arrived at the other side where her hubby was. We took a picture on their film camera too.

The pace of life on Cheung Chau's vastly different from what you can get on mainland Hong Kong; much more laid-back in comparison. I reckon this car-less island (they use some other sort of small motorized vehicle) makes a good place to explore for tourists who've been to HK one time too many and think that the Hong Kong is all about skyscrapers and over-crowding human beans. I'd love to have a meal at one of those sea-front seafood restaurants in my subsequent visits.