Tung Ping Chau — Local services in Hong Kong

The Tung Ping Chau trail is around 6.5 km in distance and circles the outlying island of Tung Ping Chau. It is a fairly easy hike which is a mix of paved walkway and quick a bit of natural trail. It takes around 3-4 hours to complete with minimal stops or up to 5-6 hours if you take in the numerous geological points of interest and viewpoints along the route. Plenty of signs, maps and highlight information panels found throughout the trail.

Note: There is a shorter version of the trail that skips the far north of the island cutting across the island at Cham Keng Chau on the west coast back across to the main ferry pier.

Note: To make your way to Tung Ping Chau for this particular hike, you will need to visit on the weekend and take the ferry from Ma Liu Shui Pier, 10 minute walk from University MTR Station. Sailings on only on Saturday (9am and 3pm) and Sunday (9am) and is around 1.5 hours to travel the 27km distance to Tung Ping Chau. The ferry returns from Tung Ping Chau to Ma Liu Shui Pier at 5.15pm (Sat and Sun). There are no daily sailings to Tung Ping Chau during weekdays.

The Tung Ping Chau Trail passes through several abandoned villages with ruinous hamlets and a handful of highlight geological sites where you can view, walk upon and admire unique sedimentary rock formations that protrude from the Earth at various angles and form beautiful coastal scenes alongside the clean blue waters that surround the island. There are nice beachfronts, stretches of hillside with heavy vegetation, wooded areas and even patches of bamboo forrest that you will see.

Particular highlights along the Tung Ping Chau Trail include A Ma Wan Beach, the Tin Hau Temple and Kang Lau Shek where you see impressive sea stacks and Wave-cut sedimentary patterns. Lung Lok Shui, Pak Lap Wan and Chau Wei Kok have similar wave-cut patterns and rock formations. There is a neat sea abrasion canyon you can walk through at Cam Keng Chau as well.

There are picnic areas and several public toilet facilities situated on the east side of the island trail. A small village area just a few hundred metres from the main pier includes a couple of island cafes where you will also find toilets. This is a good location for a rest break and bite to eat if you fancy something while waiting for the 5.15pm afternoon ferry off of Tung Ping Chau.

Overall, this trail offers a great full day out of the city, particularly when the weather is clear and favourable. The hike is quite easy and the scenery is very rewarding. There are a surprising number of other hikers and day trippers that you will see throughout the day but they tend to spread around the island so it isn't too difficult to find quiet spots if you look for them. The biggest issue with this particular trail is that it is limited to weekend use due to the lack of weekday ferries out to...

Geographically, Tung Ping Chau is an offshore island located in the northeast corner of Hong Kong in Mirs Bay, close to the border with Guangdong Province in mainland China. The island has an area of 1.16 km² and consists of shale rock. The island is the most easterly point of the Hong Kong territory and is much closer to mainland China (4 km) than to the main landmass of Hong Kong. It is close to Nan'ao of Dapeng.

The island has the shape of a kidney bean with its concave side facing northeast. Its name "Ping Chau" means "flat island" in Chinese. The highest points on the island are 48 metres (157 feet) in the south and 37 metres (121 feet) in the north. The eastern inner shore of the crescent hugs Ping Chau Hoi (平洲海) with a few beaches, including Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣) in the northeast. In contrast, the western coast of the island is fairly rocky as a result of the greater wave action taking its toll on the inclined siltstone there.

The island's largest village, Sha Tau (沙頭), is something of a ghost town, with many cottages boarded up. A large part of the island is country parkland,with footpaths overgrown with orchids, wild mint...

My second venture to Tung Ping Chau after visiting many years ago. The public facilities have improved a lot and the views are just as breathtaking. However, I would definitely recommend bringing insect repellent and wearing long sleeves especially if you choose to hike. This is because certain paths during the trail is very overgrown with vegetation which may be uncomfortable for those wearing T-shirt and shorts. There is also several cafes which is run by locals who bring food and drinks over from Hong Kong mainland and the quality is quite good. Overall, this place is worthy of a weekend excursion although I don't see myself...