I am very excited to be part of the Six Week Health Challenge - I hope you all enjoy my entry, especially if you are interested in visiting Hong Kong!
Hong Kong has many outlying islands that are perfect for day trips. Lamma Island is popular for its hipster vibe and its proximity to the main island, taking only 20 minutes to reach by ferry. The island consists of two main villages, Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, connected by a 5km family trail littered with locals plugging their wares and dotted with pieces of history and scenic beauty.
There are no cars allowed on the island, and it's one of the few places in Hong Kong that you'll actually see people on bikes!
When we arrived at Yung Shue Wan port, we were struck by the east-meets-west feel of the place. One of the first shops you come across is an English style pub, and the village has no shortages of vegetarian cafés, pubs, coffee houses, grills, boulangeries, and more! It was almost like being in a seaside village in the UK.
The Island well-deserves its hipster epithet - vinyl stores are rarely seen in the UK nowadays, let alone in Hong Kong.
The trail between the two villages provides beautiful views of the whole island.
The are also beaches along the way, as well as small shrines to local gods worshiped by the villagers. In traditional Chinese folk religions, people pray to their local gods - usually an early settler of the village famed for brave deeds - for good rains for harvest, or in the case of these villages probably good weather for fishing!
Halfway between the two villages, this shrine has incense burning, with villagers leaving paper money under rocks
You almost stumble upon the Kamikaze cave, a Japanese WWII base used to hide speedboats for missions. You could easily miss it if you were distracted by the views of the water! I'm not a huge fitness nut, but I love taking long walks to learn more about where I live, especially if it helps develop my knowledge in the field of Chinese studies.
If you're visiting Hong Kong or live here and haven't been to Lamma Island, I would recommend it for its fresh air, friendly locals, and seaside feel!
No cars? Brilliant!
The shrine is quite stoic. So, what happens to the paper money left under the rocks? Do the poor take it at some point or is it collected by someone to help maintain the shrine?
Usually its not real money, it's literally paper! Sometimes it's burnt, but if it's real money no one steals it (HK has a ridiculously low crime rate). But it may be collected to maintain the shrine like you say
the shrine/grave looks fairly new to me, but the wording on the grave suggests whoever buried here died more than 100 years ago. It is probably housing an ancestor of the people living on the island.
Paper money is usually burned during visits to the grave. It's believed that the paper money is "transferred" to hell after burning to ash. The paper money put under the rocks is to show other people that the villagers have heart and have done their job to pay visit.
you might ask why do I know these things, cos I am from Hong Kong :)
Thanks for the insightful comment!
Hong Kong sure looks cool. I’m surprised to see a hipster vinyl store there. I love going to record stores. I found your blog from your friend Starr. I’m now following you.
Oh wow,thanks so much! Hong Kong is very cool, you just have to get up and go out but often I'm too lazy lol. Hoping that sharing to streemit will give me the impetus to go out and discover more!