Tung Ping Chau 1 (Journey)

I have been meaning to revisit an island at the easternmost point of Hong Kong for a while. It's an island which I first visited when I was still a secondary school goegraphy student, being led there upon an excursion to see for ourselves some of the features of sedimentary rock formation, folding and water erosion. It's the famous island of Tung Ping Chau, now the subject of a tourist attraction. But transport there is not easy. There is only one ferry in the morning at 9.30 a.m. and one return ferry which leaves the island at 5.15 p.m and only on weekends. If you miss that ferry, then you got to make plans for staying overnight there or for a week if you can't find any other "kaido"'s.



The ferry leaves the new pier at Ma Liu Shui, just about 10-15 minutes walk from the University Station.



Opposite to the ferry pier, one finds tower blocks after tower blocks across the Tolo Harbour

On the HKCU side, you can find our so-called "Science Park".

Some say that the architecture there is very interesting. I've never been there. So I wouldn't know.

For a stretch of two to three miles on the opposite side, it was buildings, buildings and more buildings: Shek Mun, Tai Shui Hang, Ma On Shan all the way to Wu Kai Sha. 

Finally the end of the tower blocks at Wu Kai Sha

As we reach the end of the Wu Kai Sha line, we can see the eastern most part of the Kowloon Peninsula: it's called 14 Heung and Ma On Shan

But on the Shatin side of the Peninsula, we still find lots of houses

Another boat of tourists on an organized tour was behind our boat.

A light tower to warn of the reefs for boats at night, called Tang Chau (literally Lamp Island)

We passed the Plover Cove dams.

The Plover Cove Dam was getting further and further away as our ferry continued its journey eastward through the Chik Mun Straits right into the South China Sea which forms part of the Pacific Ocean.

This is the extension to the tip of land mass adjoining Wu Kai Sha called Koon Choi Kok ( literally Cape Coffin). Many boats must have met their fate there! At the left rear, we can see the furthermost point of the land on the other side, its tip called Wong Chuk Kok Tsui (literally The Tip of Cape Yellow Bamboo)

After about an hour and a half, we got our first sight of Tung Ping Chau, lying in front of us like a giant French baquette . The hills in the rear of the photo form part of China: from left to right Ping Tau Kok, Tai O, Pun Chai Wan, Nam O.

Our first view of the tip of the island

It was full of sheets of very flat stones piled one on top of another

The corridor leading to the pier

The view from the disembarkation point

The pier with our ferry securely moored to await our return journey.

Tung Ping Chau forms part of the Global Geopark of China

The sheets of rocky steps in various stages of erosion at one side of the ferry pier

All the rocks got smooth surfaces.

The rocks on the other side of the ferry pier

they look like so many pieces of the Indonesian "thousand layer cake"

The main beach on the island with hardly any one there because it was still early.

Another view of the main beach

By the time to return, it was getting quite dark

The stretch of the sea before we reached the Plover Cove Dams

We are getting closer

By the time our ferry arrived back at Ma Liu Shiu, it was already sunset.

The sky was all red

But the southern side was still quite bright

But it would not long remain like that. The end to a very memorable journey. I shall write about what I found on the island in the next blog.

(To be Cont'd)