Tai O village Lantau Island Hong Kong How I spent 2 hours

I had 2 hours to spend at Tai O Village – a Small village at Lantau Island. By then I had already done an excellent cable car ride and a guided tour of the Ngong Ping village started with our guide Julie. After the tea tasting session with the ever refreshing blooming tea, we boarded out in the bus for Tai O village.

History of Tai O Village

There are around 3000 people who now reside in Tai O Village. Located in the western side of Lantau Island, this place was once inhabited by the fishermen of Ming dynasty and the community over here is more than 100 years old. Often, the village gets affected by natural calamities and since there was a typhoon a week ago of my visit, we could clearly see the water level marks on the typical stilt houses. The large tree which have been there for more than 60 years at the entrance, were also uprooted.

the bus that took us to the island

This tree is more than 70 years old and was uprooted by the recent cyclone

The houses

Cycles are only allowed

Its only cycles inside the village

And more dried fishes and pickles and many many more

You will find plenty of shops like this

The view from the bridge

Things to do in Tai O Village

It is a small community and what attracted me most was that everyone was using a cycle as a mode of transport. Just like a small town, it has a school, a library, community centre, temples and many happy faces walking around. Take a stroll around the village, keep your camera ready for candid pics and a sneak peak into the lives of these people. Being a fishermen village, the primary produce or catch in this case is the fish. So, one will see many stalls only selling various fish products. Dried fish gill is sold in plenty here as are various dried fishes and pastes and pickles made out of them. There are plenty of these stores in every lane and bylane where you may not even recognise half of the products. As much has been spoken about the stilt houses, it is also important to note that there are permanent well built houses and structures to support the community.

One of the many shops selling fish related items

If you love fish or products related with fish then this is your day out

This is a major tourist attraction place

The picturesque setting of the village

The scene which I will remember for a long time

The unique colour of the houses

I never checked out where the bridge takes you to

The Boat ride at Tai O village

We had a 25 min (approx) boat ride at the village which gave us an opportunity to look around the geography of the place and also took us through the residential area of the place and as per the myth, we tried looking for the Pink Dolphin. We didn’t get to see one though. Yes, pink dolphins are one of the main tourist attractions here and it is often believed that the proximity of the blood vessels and heat make them look pink.

The boats which took us for a ride around the island

taking a seat in the first row has always an advantage

The small houses which form a part of the village

One of the many open air restaurants

Food at Tai O village

After the boat ride, take one more stroll around the village. Rest for some time in the large courtyard and also visit the Buddhist temple there. It is an old Buddhist temple and you will surely like a visit inside it. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants around this place and as fish is the main produce here, one would get lots of fish based dishes. Safer options will be dimsums or if you are little adventurous, then go for some of the complicated local dishes. Check out the stores like Big FishBall – Fuk Hing Song for some fishball soup, or Macau snack trading company for Almond cookies, Peanut brittle or some excellent Donuts at Tai O Bakery. If not anything else, then do try out the Egg Waffles which are a cantonese delicacy.