In homage to...Tai O, Hong Kong

Sparkling skyscrapers making up one of the world’s most glamorous cityscapes. Busy commuters from all over the world brokering deals. Shops filled to the brim with electronics. Traditional eateries, with tables packed together. A blend of remaining British imperialism and traditional Chinese culture. This is the Hong Kong many of us imagine, with good reason. But many of the true delights of this Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China simply are not those of a bustling metropolis.

Arriving at Chep Lap Kok international airport, one cannot help be struck by the amount of greenery surrounding the city. Peaks – the famous Victoria Peak is but one – dominate the land mass of the former British territory. There is ample opportunity for hiking, or something a little less energetic. However, it is the communities and smaller settlements that these peaks help to hide which are perhaps most at odds with the image of urban Hong Kong.

One such community is the tiny fishing village of Tai O. Situated at the far west of Lantau Island, itself just west of Hong Kong Island and south west of the mainland peninsular, Tai O is a remarkable settlement. There is no evidence of skyscrapers here. Houses hang precariously over the harbour, their stilts protruding from the murky waters. Tiny fishing boats bob unceremoniously on the water, fishermen using their lunch breaks to rest in the shade away from the fierce July sun. On land, ramshackle streets, barely a few feet wide, twist around tumbledown houses and shops. Whole arrays of seafood products sit on simple tables, priced even lower than the very reasonable fares paid by the city-dwellers. A shark skin hangs from one window; the owner of the shop, sitting on the street beckoning and shouting at locals and tourists alike, smokes a cigarette.

I boarded a twenty-seater tourist boat, squeezing in underneath the orange and yellow canopy, for a short trip in order to catch a glimpse of the famed pink dolphins just off the coast. The boat did not seem particularly steady, or indeed safe. If they have even come across health and safety regulations here, they steadfastly ignored them. It was refreshing.

This, it seems, is tourism at its most pure. I was struck by a tiny settlement, charming and not something sterile or generic like many of today’s popular tourist hotspots. Here, locals do what they always do and what they always have done. The city of Hong Kong is beautiful and exciting. But it is places like Tai O which truly warm the heart.