After a couple of busy days in Hong Kong, we decided to seek out somewhere less crowded. We had another adventure by taking a ferry to Peng Chau Island. The harbor was jammed with ships and boats of all sizes and descriptions. No two ships or boats seemed to be headed in the same direction. My favorites were the cargo ships. They were loaded with shipping containers stacked high in all different colors. It made them look like toy boats loaded with blocks. We passed a bunch of islands but only a fraction of the 280 that make up Hong Kong.

Peng Chau Island was a 30 minute ferry ride and a million miles away from Hong Kong. It was sparsely populated and the streets were empty. People that we passed were all walking very slowly and almost all of them were wearing flip-flops for shoes, which included all generations. We did see some public housing but there were no bars on the windows.

We walked the whole island. We found a trail that rambles around the island. It appeared to me that somewhere back in modern times, Peng Chau was a much busier place. We hiked up Finger Hill and had good views all around. We saw lots of old buildings that no longer seem to be used. Fishing too seems to have faded out from this island. People were very friendly as we walked around the island.

We found a path that led up some steps to a very green area. It turned out to be a large cemetery. We always like to walk cemeteries. The graves were such that people were buried, but could be removed later. Also, graves often times had lots of flowers, incense, rice, food, fruit, sticky buns, eggs, cake, and beer.

The shopping district was a small, narrow alley that was several blocks long and had everything. We, of course, sought out the more unusual buying opportunities.

I’ve often thought that the Chinese aren’t very good at basketball and primarily attributed that to their height, or lack thereof. I found another reason on Peng Chau.

I found the old basketball hoop to be somewhat symbolic of Peng Chau. I sensed that it used to be a much busier island but I enjoyed it as we found it today.