On Saturday afternoon in the narrow lanes of Cheung Chau, I’m busy avoiding elbows, sidestepping metal trolleys and ducking under makeshift plastic canopies. There are day-trippers and residents and leisurely lunches at dai pai dongs (street stalls)—it’s all here on this island of a few square kilometers, just 30 minutes away by ferry from Hong Kong Island. The concrete lanes twist, rise and disappear into the hillsides at either end of the island, more often than not leading to a Chinese cemetery or a small beach. Life here, as it was in Hong Kong’s past, is lived on the street.
Fishing junks still bob in Cheung Chau’s harbor and day-trippers dine out along Pak She Praya at outdoor seafood restaurants. Names like Hong Kee and Wellness offer the same menus—deep fried squid, garlic prawns, steamed fish in ginger and soy—and there’s little to choose between them. Glass tanks full of someone’s dinner are stacked like building blocks along the waterfront, but it’s in the maze of concrete lanes and zigzagging staircases where the island is of most interest. 
Getting lost on Cheung Chau is a given—even long-term residents make wrong turns—but climb out to a knoll called Fa Peng on the east side of the island and you’ll come across some eerie reminders of the past. Abandoned homes recede into the landscape, swallowed by banyan trees, wrapped with thick roots and partly hidden behind sharp-bladed weeds. Meanwhile, along Tung Wan Beach sailors and windsurfers mingle with the less-athletic over cold beer.
Try as it might, Lamma Island just cannot shake its reputation as a haven for Hong Kong’s hippies, if such people even exist anymore. In its favor, much of what an alternative lifestyle meant a generation or more ago is commonplace today on this island just southwest of Hong Kong Island. Organic food and clothing, sustainable use of energy and a sense of community are all still in vogue on Lamma. That said, instead of tie-dyed holdovers from a different decade, these days it’s more likely that Chinese newlyweds will be moving in.
Most of the island’s population in shoehorned into the small valley immediately off the ferry pier in Yung Shue Wan. Mom and pop stores stand in place of larger chain stores, offering a more personal take on daily life. Teddy Hui, for one, sells Chinese tea in its many forms from a smart shop in the village, while Just Green does its best to convince anyone who will listen that organic living is the way to go. On the southern edge of all this is Tin Hau temple built in 1826.
Lamma is also known for its seafood restaurants in Sok Kwu Wan. Yet that string of waterfront eateries is best left to the large tour groups, these days mainly package tours from China, that frequent them en masse each night. Both Man Fung and Lamcombe in Yung Shue Wan are better bets.
From the water at dusk, Lantau rises darker than the sky. The largest of Hong Kong’s islands, almost double the size of Hong Kong Island, Lantau’s majestic peaks sweep upwards. This is home to two of three of the city’s highest peaks, the 903-meter Lantau Peak and the slightly shorter Sunset Peak. It’s a place where traffic signs warn of ambling water buffalo and an island stitched together with 70 kilometers of walking trails. Monasteries, both Buddhist and Christian, abound. So too do waterfalls and thick stands of bamboo.
Of all Hong Kong’s 236 islands, it’s on Lantau that change is most obvious. It is the only outlying island with cars and Tung Chung is no longer a fishing village of 20 families but home to the city’s international airport, dozens of soaring apartment blocks and Disneyland on the north shore. It is also home to Po Lin Monastery, which is dwarfed by a 32-meter statue of a Buddha image that is now accessible by cable car.
If the hills are too intimidating, the south coast is lined with beaches both crowded and secluded. Lower Cheung Sha Beach is a quiet 1.6-kilometer stretch of sand. Its neighbor, the upper part of the beach, is home to The Stoep, a restaurant offering a mix of Mediterranean and South African dishes. On Pui O Beach, Ooh La La lives up to its name, offering a menu that’s as lively as the long list of weekend events the restaurant sponsors.
So spend some time here—or any of the offshore islands—and enjoy a way of life that reveals itself at its own pace. Where neon-washed Hong Kong Island blares, blasts and honks its way into our collective imagination, its more remote islands only reveal themselves at their own pace; unlike otherwise frenetic Hong Kong, these are places to still the mind.
Getting There
Cheung Chau, Lamma and Lantau islands are all accessible from the Central ferry piers on Hong Kong Island, with fares ranging from HK$11 to HK$32 and travel time between 30 and 50 minutes. On Lantau, buses travel across the whole island, with fares ranging up to HK$20, while taxis are a better option for groups of less than five people.
Ferries for Po Toi leave from Aberdeen at the same pier for Lamma on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 A.M., with several sailing per day on weekends. The fare is HK$20.
Where to Eat
CHEUNG CHAU
Katie Dessert
In front of the Tin Hau Temple, near the pier.
East Lake
Tung Wan Rd.; dinner for two HK$200.
Cheung Chau Windsurfing Center
The best place for a cold beer or chilled glass of wine. Overlooking Tung Wan Beach.
LAMMA
Chin Yip Hin Tea Shop
Stocks a huge variety of Chinese teas. 38 Sha Po Old Village; 852/2982-6988.
Just Green
92 Main St.; 852/2982-2325.
Lamcombe Seafood Restaurant
A wide-ranging menu of Chinese seafood. 47 Main St.; 852/2982-0881; dinner for two HK$200.
Man Fung
Follow the crowds off the ferry and onto the patio for Chinese seafood. 5 Main St.; 852/2982-0719; dinner for two HK$200.
LANTAU
Bahce Turkish Restaurant
A Turkish café where you least expect it, with excellent kebabs and meze. 3 Ngan Wan Rd., Mui Wo.; 852/2984-0221; dinner for two HK$300.
China Beach Club
Simple but well prepared dishes and sea views. Mui Wo Beach; 852/2983-8931; dinner for two HK$300.
Ooh La La
Perfect for a lazy day at the beach and a barbeque. Pui O Beach; 852/2984-8710; dinner for two HK$250.
The Stoep
Reservations on weekends are recommended. 32 Lower Cheung Sha Village; 852/2980-2699; dinner for two HK$350.
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