Discovering HK during Winter Break

Over winter break, we had a chance to visit some places in HK that we hadn't seen yet.  Hong Kong isn't a very big place, but when you rely on public transportation it takes awhile to get to places.  So, we reserved some of these fun, more touristy places for winter break when Josiah and Shannon were out of school and we could enjoy the whole day together as a family.  If these pictures make you feel like coming here, that's great!  We would love to show you around (what we know so far) and we love visitors!

Cheung Chau Island- This was probably our favorite place we got to visit over break.   It's a fishing village where bikes and walking are the only modes of transportation.  From Central you take a 30-45 minute ferry to the island. 

It's quite busy near the pier, but if you rent a bike (and they're cheap!) you discover the natural beauty of the island.

Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau

There are also several bright and colorful temples on the island, and you'll often find worshippers lighting incense sticks as offerings.    

We happened to catch a man rowing in a dragon boat.  They are narrow, long boats and each year there is a big festival where they have dragon boat races. 

Cheung Chau- Since it's wintertime, we had fun goofing off, playing in the sand, climbing on rocks, and generally had the beach all to ourselves!

This was taken in Cheung Chau, but you can take almost identical pictures at other fishing piers in HK.  This picture shows shallow tanks filled with different types of live seafood. You pick out what you want to take home for dinner or they can make it for you at the restaurant next door, where you see the man standing in the background.  We ate a yummy seafood dinner there.  

The evening ferry ride from Cheung Chau back to Central  provided us a beautiful view of the city.  We don't spend our nights out here since it's about an hour away from our home, but we have to admit that it's a great skyline.

Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill- Sometimes it's hazy and cloudy in HK, but this particular day was clear and a great day to visit the garden.  It's a short bus ride from our home and a peaceful, pretty place to spend a couple hours.   

Nan Lian Garden- It has a small man made waterfall and behind it is a vegetarian restaurant.  The kids are "posing" here.

Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill- A small bridge connects the gardens to the nunnery.  It's quite large and just as beautiful.  At the top of the stairs there is a large Buddha behind the glass window.    

Chi Lin Nunnery- This is the view from the top of the stairs.  Once you actually enter the temple you are not allowed to take pictures. We actually entered during part of the worship, and observed monks chanting and walking in long robes from one part of the temple to another.  There were also traditional offerings of towers of fruit on the tables.  

Plover Cove Country Park- This ocean reservoir is the quietest place we've been to in Hong Kong.  We took the train and bus in order to get here and the ocean views on the way were stunning.  

Bride's Pool Nature Trail- This was a nice, short family trail, but it's hard to believe that it's considered a level one (easy) hike.  Locals like to come to this park to picnic and barbecue, and as we passed barbecue areas we saw many people barbecuing since it was a public holiday.  Most of the time during our hike Ava repeated the words, "Mmm, I want a hot dog."

Bride's Pool Waterfall- The name originates from a folk legend that tells that of a bride who fell to her death here on the way to her wedding. We sincerely hope it wasn't true!

The ride back home was beautiful as well, and we noticed a large white Buddha and temple in the valley.  Can you spot it on the right hand side of the picture?  Although most Hong Kong people are irreligious, the majority religion in Hong Kong is Buddhism. 

Statue Square in Central- Hong Kong used to be under British rule and you can see traces of that through the architecture here.  We stumbled here on accident while trying to find the right train one day on the way to the Peak.  

Bottom of The Peak, one of the biggest tourist attractions in HK

It's hard to tell because we went on a foggy day, but you can ride the tram all the way up to the top.  It's a fairly steep incline and Josiah especially loved it.

The view from the Peak on a clear night.  Although it was a nice view of the city and harbor, the long lines and shopping mall at the top were a turnoff for us.   

This is actually what the old Tai Po railway station used to look like.  It's since been turned into a railway museum, and Josiah's class got to go here during their unit on transportation.  

In Tsim Sha Tsui, on the steps up to the History Museum.  The picture on the steps shows the Terra Cotta Warriors.

TST, in front of the History Museum- It cost $25US to get a museum pass to eight museums for our whole family for a year.  Hong Kong is a lot more kid friendly than we thought it would be.  

The great thing about Hong Kong is that although it's full of skyscrapers, you can easily get out of the city.  One of the other new teachers enjoys hiking, and showed me how true that can be.  We ran about a mile to a trail behind the school and then hiked for an hour where we were rewarded with this view.

Thanks for reading/looking at the pictures!