All things bright and beautiful: Hiking in Hong Kong --- Cheung Chau

To the vast majority of the Hong Kong population living in compact housings within concrete jungles, a solace is that superb 'back gardens' that are freely accessible to the public come in abundance. There are numerous country parks with scenic hiking trails, all easily reachable. Several outlying islands also offer a good option for a half-day trip away from the congested streets in the city. Among these, Cheung Chau is one of the top favourites of locals and tourists alike.

We find numerous reasons for visiting Cheung Chau, sometimes on multiple occasions in a year. It may be for a one-day or overnight church retreat at one of the Christian centres situated at tranquil locations on the island. It may be for a trip with overseas visitors to show them a more rustic side of Hong Kong apart from the urban metropolitan. Or just a morning outing, either hiking or renting a bicycle to cycle leisurely through the time-frozen narrow alleyways.

Morning outing on Cheung Chau

On one particular early December morning with fine weather, we followed a typical hiking itinerary on Cheung Chau. We started the day with breakfast at a cha chaan teng on the "main street" near the ferry pier. The long stretch of Tung Wan Beach 東灣海灘 is a short walk on the eastern side of the island. Next to Tung Wan is Kwun Yam Wan 觀音灣. On the eastern end of Kwun Yam Wan Beach is the start of the Little Great Wall Trail. This scenic trail runs along the eastern coast of Cheung Chau, featuring several naturally weathered rock structures, aptly named according to their distinctive shapes.

After walking the Little Great Wall Trail, we crossed over to Nam Tum Park 南氹公園 with a Tin Hau Temple on the southern coast of Cheung Chau. From there, we headed back to the main street, where we had lunch before taking the return ferry to Central.