Saturday, October 28, 2017

Hiking: Tung Chung to Tai O

About a year ago I did one of my first hikes in Hong Kong. A friend of a friend of a friend from Shenzhen took me on the Tung O Ancient Trail from Tai O to Tung Chung.

Recently, my SWIC hiking friends from Shenzhen were coming to Hong Kong and invited me to join them on the same hike only going the opposite direction. I invited some of my Hong Kong hiking friends and we made a day of it.


The Tung O Ancient Trail is an easy trail to hike but it is long. It passes through many small villages once you escape the mini city of Tung Chung. 

Here are some points of interest along the 15km hike to Tai O:

The beginning of the trail is paved and mostly tree covered as it skirts along Tung Chung Bay. Along this section we had many different views of the Hong Kong Macau Bridge, Hong Kong International Airport and the cable cars making their way up the mountain to the Big Buddha.




This section of the trail was home to small village. Some of the gated homes had tables of fruits and veggies for sale set out along the small road (pay via honor system). We passed some village shrines and then stopped to eat our lunches in the shade.




Before reaching our destination, a section of the trail turned over-grown almost jungle. This part is apparently known for the poisonous Golden Orb spiders (we saw a couple of dead ones on the ground).  The reward for braving the spider walk is the trail opening up to great coastal views of the sea.




Upon reaching the edge of Tai O, the first sight is the Yeung Hau Temple with all it's flag flying across the water inlet. To get there you have to cross the foot bridge that connects to the island of Tai O and walk back on that side. The path continues toward the village proper and around a corner the mountains of Lantau loom up in the distance.



Tai O is a fishing village built on stilts along the Tai O River. The Tung O Ancient Trail winds through the streets of the village and across the Sun Ki Bridge where the famous stilt houses become most visible. On the other side of the bridge are the markets and the Kwan Tai Temple located in the part of the village that is on the island.





Another footbridge connects the two sides of Tai O village. Crossing this bridge leads to the bus terminus, ferry pier and more markets. A large public toilet facility is right near the buses and ferry which makes a nice spot to clean up using my handy Shower Pill body wipes (affiliate).





After finishing our hike, we said good-bye to the SIC hikers and found a table at Black Pearl for a quick bite. We explored the markets and then grabbed a seat on the water at Solo Balcony for a beverage before catching the ferry back to Tung Chung.



Hiking to Tai O is definitely the better way to go. It was fun having my Hong Kong friends hiking with the SWIC hiking group. 



Have you ever had your old and new friends meet up?



Other Lantau Island hikes:





2 comments:

  1. I have been loving your hiking posts! How beautiful and amazing it is!

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    Replies
    1. Hiking is one of the best parts of Hong Kong!

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