Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±

Tai O Fishing Village @ Hong Kong_1821

Getty Images/Flickr RF


On weekends, droves of visitors trek to the far-flung west coast of Lantau to see a fascinating way of life. Here in Tai O, historical home to the Tanka boat people, life is all about the sea. Houses are built on stilts above the ocean, sampans ply the dark-green waterways, and elderly residents still dry seafood on traditional straw mats and make the village's celebrated shrimp paste.

Tai O is built partly on Lantau and partly on a tiny island about 15m from the shore. Until the mid-1990s the only way to cross was via a rope-tow ferry pulled by elderly women. That and the large number of sampans in the small harbour earned Tai O the nickname ‘the Venice of Hong Kong’. Though the narrow iron Tai Chung footbridge now spans the canal, the rope-tow ferry is resurrected on some weekends and holidays: drop HK$1 in the box as you disembark.

Some of the tiny, traditional-style village houses still stand in the centre, including some of Tai O’s famed stilt houses on the waterfront. There are a few houses that escaped a fire in 2000, plus a number of shanties, their corrugated-iron walls held in place by rope.

The main activity for visitors in Tai O is simply wandering the back alleys, photographing the stilt houses, strolling the long causeway, and buying seafood at the crowded street markets.

Note that taxis out of Tai O are essentially nonexistent, and weekend afternoons mean long queues for buses headed back to Mui Wo and Tung Chung.


Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Tai O Kwan Tai Temple

0.21 MILES

Tai O's oldest temple, raised in the 15th century (Ming dynasty), is dedicated to Kwan Tai, a deified general known as the God of War. It was renovated in…

2. Tai O Tin Hau Temple

0.32 MILES

The main gods here are Tin Hau, Goddess of the Sea, and notably, Madam Kam Fa, the Goddess of Fertility and protector of infants and pregnant women. Every…

3. Stilt Houses

0.36 MILES

Tai O's remaining stilt houses stand over the waterway, scrunched up against each other for support. Some have ladders descending to boats, the vehicle of…

4. Tai O Hung Shing Temple

0.39 MILES

Located away from the main street, in a windy spot in Sha Lo Wan Village, this temple has an air of modest quietude. It was built in the 18th century to…

5. Tai O Yeung Hau Temple

0.59 MILES

Yeung Hau, Tai O's patron deity and the resident god here is believed to be the maternal uncle of the last Song emperor. Marquis Yeung is said to have…

6. Yin Hing Monastery

1.53 MILES

There are good views of the mountains from this small Buddhist monastery, hidden away inside the South Lantau Country Park.

7. Po Lin Monastery & Big Buddha

2.93 MILES

Po Lin is a huge Buddhist monastery and temple complex that was built in 1924. Today it seems more of a tourist honeypot than a religious retreat,…

8. Fan Lau

3.56 MILES

Only accessible on foot, Fan Lau (Divided Flow), a small peninsula on the southwestern tip of Lantau, has a couple of good beaches and the remains of Fan…