My friends from Singapore, Lim Ting and Pearlyn, are here in Hong Kong for the launch of their art exhibition.
When they mentioned that they love visiting non-touristy attractions, I thought it was a good idea to bring them to Peng Chau island – a tiny outlying island in Hong Kong that tourists are virtually non-existent.
To get there: it is extremely easy to get to Peng Chau island. You can pay using your Octopus card for the return journey which will add up to approximately $30 HKD. To get to the island, just take a ferry from Central pier 6 and return via the same terminal whereby you alighted from, on the island itself.
Peng Chau island is really a tiny island that’s accessible by foot. As a matter of fact, we did not see any vehicles on the island itself. The people there get around by foot or bicycle and you’ll see many bicycles being parked alongside the ferry terminal when you arrive.
Our main purpose for visiting the island was to visit the Finger Hill and perhaps, hike a little here and there to beautiful beaches.
The journey took about 30 mins. The thing about Peng Chau is that it’s so small, you don’t actually NEED to spend the whole day here. My friends and I stayed for merely 2-3 hours and it was good enough.
When you arrive in Peng Chau, you’ll notice that unlike cramped Hong Kong, Peng Chua’s houses are mostly spread out nicely. It looks a little more like Japan rather than the conventional Hong Kong landscapes.
Signs are available everywhere for you to navigate the island with relative ease so you don’t have to worry about getting lost. At the very most, just ask the friendly locals who are often more than willing to lead you back to the pier.
On our way to Finger Hill, we walked up the wrong intersection. But luckily for us, there were 2 friendly local women who kindly led us to the right way and even showed us some of the offbeaten paths that proved to be so beautiful. Much more beautiful than what Finger Hill had to offer.
When you see this sign, walk towards this pathway instead of going up the steep slope (it leads you back to the pier!).
And at the next intersection, head towards this route instead of the sign pointing to Finger Hill. Why? The route here has fewer steps (100+ as compared to the other path’s 300+) and it will lead you to another intersection and a detour where you’ll get to see a really nice, empty beach and a pavilion.
The women then led us to the path further down which turned out to be a small but empty beach.
(You can see them in the background picking up trash from the beach)
From the beach, retrace your steps back to before the detour, and continue your journey up Finger Hill.
Finger Hill was a little of a disappointment because of the shrubs that blocked the panoramic view of the island.
So yeah. I don’t know if they’re going to clear the shrubs but as of today, 6/10/2016, this is how the panoramic view looks like.
After you felt like you’ve got enough of this view, head back down using the other path and you’ll arrive at the intersection at the picture that shows the “to Tai Wo” sign in no time.
From there, just retrace your steps back or if you’re feeling more adventurous, use the local way of getting back to the pier by heading up the steep slope I mentioned previously.
All in all, Peng Chau is a really nice side trip from Hong Kong if you want to take a look at the slower-paced lifestyle of unconventional Hong Kongers.
While I did not eat anything there, there are many small shops available that sells food near the pier. There’s also a supermarket where you can get some beers to simply chill by the pier.
Hope this post entices more people to visit Peng Chau! Cheers!