July 2017

VP/TRAVEL
OFF THE BEATEN PATH:
Exploring Hong Kong’s
Cheung Chau Island
The more I travel, the less I get interested about being just a tourist. So when you
land on a city that is a mecca for tourists, what do you actually do?
Text and Photo by #Villager Dan Punzalan of TheWanderDan.com
ver a few days, I flew to one of my favorite
destinations in Asia: Hong Kong. Because the city
Ois just an hour away from Manila, I have frequent
Hong Kong as my easy escape from the mundane life back
at home. Hong Kong is far from monotonous; it is as if
something is always happening at every corner, perhaps
because it has everything but one: spac e. Lack of space
is often seen as a hitch, but Hong Kong has taken it to its
advantage by converging all eccentric bustles making it
one hyper city.
I have always been fascinated with Hong Kong’s vibrancy.
Those neon lights casted up on the streets, the packed
alleys, which at night turn into flee markets, the smell of
noodles and steamed dim sum mixing through the cold
breeze on a post-winter day. Hong Kong makes all the
senses into use and this is the very reason that it remains
a popular tourist destination. As a result, it is inevitable
to see tourists outnumber the locals and converting
historical places into commercial spaces. Tourists have
flocked the city that it is almost impossible to get a lone
photo at the best scenes of Hong Kong. In the past, I used
to be one of them fervently waiting for my turn to take
remarkable snap. Besides, the Hong Kong experience is
never complete without being a needle in the haystack in
places like Disneyland, Ngong Pin or the Victoria Harbor.
But the more I travel and the more I see Hong Kong, the
more that I get to have the urge to see the city beyond
what is commercially seen. I refused to be a tourist and
went on to become a traveller.
Every tourist spot in Hong Kong is definitely worth the
visit. But probably because I have seen it a couple of times
in the past, I was less excited to see the famous parts that
form quite a big jigsaw of amusements. I wanted to see
the city on a different point of view; something tells me
that beneath the busy pace, I have so much more to see
about this alluring city. A sight that would make me want
to keep coming back regardless of my mood or purpose.
So I aimlessly boarded a ferry from Central towards what
could be known as the other side of Hong Kong: Cheung
Chau Island.
Seated next to me were a few kids in their school
uniforms, eager to come home from a long day at school.
I thought it was bizarre to see them cross the ocean for a
good forty minutes just to attend class. It was then that my
curiosity grew about the island.
I walked down the ferry feeling like I was transported far
from Hong Kong although in reality was is just twenty-two
kilometers away from the centre. Unlike the typical Hong
Kong, this side of the city is calm and laid back. Cheung
Chau is candid in such a way that it doesn’t seem to strive
to be current and modern, a total opposite of what I saw
forty minutes before I boarded the ferry. I would see
fishermen loading containers of freshly caught seafood
from the boats that they docked at the ports next to an
array of bicycles, a major transport in the island. That was
an uncommon seen back at the city but a sight that made
me fall in love with Hong Kong all the more. I soon learned
that had I visited in May, I would have witnessed the
traditional Chinese Bun Festival together with the local
celebration of Buddha’s birthday.
I had no idea what to expect with Cheung Chau so I
randomly picked an outfit of the day. Wearing a pair of
dress shoes that went with my wool coat, I followed a trail
up the hill and down the caves until I reached what I did
not know Hong Kong had: The Reclining Rock. The fresh
cold air, the sound of waves splashing and overlooking to
piles of rocks took my breath away. The tranquility was
so soothing that I forgot how my foot sore from the shoes
I wore.
Standing in front of nature’s finest and such a thick pile
of clouds summoning to lower down, it could have been a
melancholic moment, but it’s hard to feel lonely in Hong
Kong that even if it was just me and the sea, I was ecstatic.
I had a few more minutes to spare in this quaint town, so
I took a moment to dine with their famous seafood next
to locals who were very delighted to accompany me and
taste the Mango bun, a famous delicacy in this island.
While I was boarded back on the ferry, I can’t help but
be stunned with how much diversity there is in Hong
Kong but I was craving for some more. I love the sea,
notwithstanding the weather, it was inevitable for me to
find an escape to the beach. Not too many knows that
Hong Kong actually is a home to white sand beaches just
almost an hour away from the city, Repulse Bay instantly
became my comfort zone. Just like Cheung Chau, the
serenity was too dominating that I can’t help but relax and
be in my elements.
I guess that is what Hong Kong really is all about; it brings
you closer to your elements. The elements that make you
define your individuality and give you a room to celebrate
it - a reason why most of us travel. Hong Kong made me
realize that the world offers us with so much space to feel
what we want to feel, at the time we want to feel it. We just
have to find it. I could be jovial and feeling such a vibrant
energy and hit the streets of Central Hong Kong or I could
be appease with the candid and laid back life in Cheung
Chau. Whatever it was, as a traveler, I realized, that there
are always two sides of a destination and I am tasked to
uncover both, find what sets them apart and what binds
them together. ■
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