Cheung Chau
A visit to Cheung Chau (Long Island), one of Hong Kong's smallest yet most populated outlying islands, is a great way to spend the day with the kids.
Home of one of Asia's oddest festivals (the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in early May), lovely Chinese temples, hiking trails along craggy shorelines, quiet beaches, a bustling boardwalk, and even a genuine pirate's cave, there is something for everyone here. And it is kid-friendly, too. It does not take long to get anywhere on the island, and vehicles are rare because there are no roads.
As soon as you arrive in Cheung Chau harbour, brimming with vessels of all kinds, you become aware that it is one of Hong Kong's busiest fishing settlements.
A five-minute walk to the right of the pier is a place called VIP that rents adults' and children's bicycles by the day ($20) or by the hour ($8). It also rents three-wheeled bicycle-rickshaws for $20 an hour or $50 a day. On the way, you will pass a outdoor fish and seafood market and souvenir shop that sells - among the usual assortment - neon-coloured shell jewellery at $10-$15.
A 25-minute walk in the same direction (or five-10 minutes by boat from the ferry, at $10-15 per person) brings you to the cave of Cheung Po Tsai, the 19th-century 'Prince of Pirates'. No trace of treasure has ever been found, but the cave is still there. It is not recommended you go inside, because it starts with a 1.8-metre drop, and is dark and slippery - but spin a yarn as you make your way there and let the children's imagination do the rest.