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Some of the more distant outlying islands have even more elusive charms but
these islands are more or less deserted.
- Ping Chau or
"Ghost Island", used to have about
3,000 people but now only two men live there full
time. Other islanders return at weekend
and public holdays.
- Tap Mun, this
island is worth visiting as it is an important
base for Hong Kong fishing folk. It has in common
with most outlying islands, a Tin Hua Temple
dedicated to the goddess of sea.
- Kat O Chau or
"Crooked Island", a richly green island
thick with butterflies, wild flowers and a
summer chorus of frogs and cicadas. Kat O
is larger than Tap Mun but it’s
a rather sleepy island with an
atmosphere reminiscent of ancient China. The
population there is about 2,000
Hoklo fishermen.
Ap Chau is another fishing island
with one unusual feature about it. The 500
fishermen and their families are all members
of the True Jesus Church, headquarters in Taiwan.
- Po Toi is a tiny
Island inhabited by some 200 people. It has a
haunted house and some curious rock
carvings which might possibly be the epitaph
of an emperor who is rumoured to have
died on or near Po Toi.
- Ma Wan, is smaller
than Po Toi is notable because it was once the
site of a Ching dynasty custom station.
- Tung Lungs is a
small, sparsely populated island lying off
the southern tip of the Clearwater Bay
Peninsula, to the east of Hong Kong Island.
Its main features of interest to visitors
are a renovated fort, and huge cliffs.
- Sek kwu Chau, a small island near Cheung Chau is not open to casual visitors as it is now given over to SARDA, a private body which runs the heroin rehabilitation centre there.