Peng Chau - An Unplanned Stop During Our Island Hopping in Hong Kong

We have just spent two days on Cheung Chau Island and were on our way to our next island hopping destination in Hong Kong - Mui WO. The ferry took off at 12:45pm, with a half empty ferry since this was a weekday. As soon as we boarded the ferry, cool air hit us on our faces. what a wonderful reprieve from the 30 plus degree heat outside! It was a delightful ferry boat ride of less than 20 minutes. This was one of the best ways to get out of the searing temperature in the middle of summer in Hong Kong!

When we were about to get off the ferry, my hubby was chatting with a friendly ferry staff member who informed us that the next destination for the ferry would be Peng Chau, only about a 10 minute ride. My hubby got very excited as he heard about this island growing up and always wanted to visit there. So we changed our plan, made a stopover to Peng Chau before heading to Mui Wo. It was shortly after 1:00 p.m. when we reached Peng Chau. With the population of Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau estimated to be around 6600 people, Peng Chau was a laid back island experience for us. For active people looking for things to do, they could hike on the Finger Hill, visit the Old Leather Factory and various temples or just relax on the beaches and enjoy the nice waterfont view for a while.

. We visited a small market, a library close by and peeked into a few alleyways. Peng Chau is a small village indeed! As it was a hot day, my hubby enjoyed sitting on one of the benches by the pier, feeling the breezes while checking messages on his cell. I saw a modern supermarket close by so I went to buy some water and explored the nearby park and buildings. I always felt safe walking around by myself in Hong Kong and this was no excpetion. I came across some nice old houses and a couple of low rise apartments. Surprisingly, I also found a new development of resort style townhouses by the sea. However, they were not cheap. A couple of friendly women came by and we started talking. Working on a community project sponsored by the Hong Kong government, these two nice ladies were doing some community outreach work on the island. They were trying to recruit a few local Peng Chau residents to sign up for a free government sponsored training program as personal service workers looking after newborns and the elderly. A job offer would be waiting for the candidate upon his/her completion of the training program. They took a look at me and thought I would be a good candidate for this program! I declined the opportunity and informed them that we were on vacation here and not looking for a job. We had a good conversation about the Hong Kong governemnt's community projects trying to promote health and wellbeing to the residents on the island. I was impressed by the government's efforts in reaching out to these remote communites from the Central District of the city.

After my encounter with the two nice ladies, we strolled around a bit and found a decent modern cafe. We went inside, ordered a beer and some cold drinks to quench our thirst before heading back to the ferry terminal to catch the next ferry taking us to Mui Wo - the next destination for our island hopping experience in Hong Kong! Though our visit to Peng Chau was a brief one as we were only here for a few hours, we were happy to have visited this little island of Hong Kong!

RT, Peng Chau, Hong Kong