It's Chau Time!

Tung Ping Chau sits in far northeastern Hong Kong

The fact that neither Jeff nor I speak Cantonese is rarely a major issue for us here in Hong Kong.  English is actually an official language here, and the sheer number of foreigners living here means that most signage, documents, websites and other sources of information are usually available in English.  Even the locals that don't speak English seem to have ways of communicating that enables them to address just about any situation that might arise.  In our day to day lives, we constantly read Chinese words that are written in English characters, and we frequently don't take the time to understand the meaning of them. 

Tung Ping Chau is one of Hong Kong's eight Geoparks

Hiking trails circumnavigate the island

But every once in awhile, the proverbial light bulb goes off and the meaning of one of those words suddenly becomes obvious to us.  Recently, that happened with the word "chau."  We suddenly noticed that many of the more than 200 islands that make up Hong Kong have the word "chau" in their names, so we concluded that "chau" must mean "island" in Cantonese.  When I asked a colleague at work if that was correct, she confirmed that it is, but added that it's actually pronounced "tsau," with more of a "t" sound at the beginning, not with the "ch" sound as the word is spelled in English.  She also volunteered that Chinese speakers are frequently confused by the English spelling of Chinese words as they often are different than the Cantonese pronunciation.

The meaning of the word "chau" became obvious to us because we enjoy exploring Hong Kong's
various outlying islands during our free time on the weekends.  Frequent and inexpensive ferry services between the islands provide an easy way to get away from chaotic Central Hong Kong and enjoy the peace and quiet offered by the less-crowded and automobile-free islands.

Sedimentary rocks line Tung Ping Chau's coastline

Many of these islands are a just a short ferry ride from Central and have at least a small population of permanent residents.  But one island was particularly intriguing to us due to its remote location and interesting history.

Hiking trails run through a bamboo jungle in the center of the island

Tung Ping Chau sits in far northeastern Hong Kong.   Just 2.5 miles from the coast of the Guangdong Province, the island is actually closer to Mainland China than the rest of Hong Kong.  At less than half a square mile in size, it's a fairly small island, and a seasoned hiker can circumnavigate its coastline in about four hours.

Abandoned buildings are scattered across Tung Ping Chau

Once a thriving fishing community of about 3,000 people, Tung Ping Chau now has less than a dozen permanent residents that survive with the assistance of generators and improvised water pumping stations.  Our plans to visit on a couple of earlier occasions didn't work out, and we became determined to get there before the hot weather of summer arrives.  So yesterday, we set out in the rain for our day on Tung Ping Chau.

The Tin Hau Temple on Tung Ping Chau

The island's proximity to Mainland China contributes to its colorful history.  During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945), Tung Ping Chau was used as a logistics base to supply the Chinese army.   A period followed in the 1950s and 1960s when smugglers used the island for trading in opium and illegal guns.  During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) some mainlanders braved the shark-infested waters, swimming to Tung Ping Chau in hopes of seeking asylum in Hong Kong.  A camp, now abandoned, for British military Gurkhas was built on the island in 1975, before discussions of the handover had begun.  

Despite few residents, offerings were left at the Tin Hau Temple

Tung Ping Chau is one of Hong
Kong's five marine parks

Today, the Hong Kong police maintain a presence there, occasionally checking IDs to prevent anyone from using the island to enter Hong Kong illegally.  At its peak, Tung Ping Chau had multiple villages, temples and a couple of schools, but trade with the mainland, the island's economic lifeblood, declined during the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the Korean conflict and the Cultural Revolution.  At that point, Tung Ping Chau's population began to move away.

Today, Tung Ping Chau is primarily a recreational destination, with hiking, camping and snorkeling or SCUBA diving the main draws.  Marine research is also conducted in the relatively pristine waters surrounding the island. The island's land mass is made up of ancient sedimentary rock, which is unique for Hong Kong, giving the island its spectacular coastline and beautiful beaches.  Tung Ping Chau is one of eight parks that make up the Hong Kong Global Geopark, and the island is located in one of Hong Kong's five designated Marine Parks and Marine Reserves.    

Jeff poses with the crew of one of Tung Ping Chau's "pop-up" restaurants

We spent our day on Tung Ping Chau hiking the trails through the jungle, examining the abandoned buildings and taking in the views along the coastline.  Because of the steady stream of weekend visitors, there are a few "pop-up" restaurants, so we stopped at one for some fried rice and sea food at lunch.  Ferry service to Tung Ping Chau is from Ma Liu Shui in the New Territories and the journey takes about one hour and forty minutes.  Because the island is so remote, ferries run on weekends only, and there is only one departure, at 5:15pm, to the New Territories each day.  Miss the ferry on Saturday, and you will spend the night on the island; miss it on Sunday, and you will spend the next week there!  Due to the rainy weather, we enjoyed a day where we almost had the entire island to ourselves.  But by 5:00, we were ready to go home and dry off, so we made sure we were at the pier when our ferry departed Tung Ping Chau.