Tai O Heritage Hotel – a piece of historic heaven

It’s a holiday. Where can you go for lunch in Hong Kong that’s interesting, out of town and doesn’t require a mortgage? After years of trying steakhouses in Tseng Kwan O, seafood places on Lamma and obscure eateries with names like 131, I have the answer: Tai O. No, not Tai Po, be careful with spellcheck or you could end up heading for the New Territories, instead of Lantau, where you should be.

The Tai O Heritage Hotel has been opened for a while, but like many things on your doorstep, it gets talked about more than actually patronised. So today it was time to actually board the no.1 bus in Mui Wo and take the 40 minute trip along the South Lantau Road. From Tai O bus station it’s either a two-minute speed boat across the bay to the hotel, or a leisurely 20-minute stroll. I’m not sure how you get your suitcase there but I am sure they have thought of that.

The HK$10 boat ride is well worth whatever they spent upgrading from the old sampan and before you know it, you’re halfway up the short path to the former colonial police station. The mountain and sea view would be spectacular if not shrouded in orange-brown smog--yes the pollution is as bad here as Causeway Bay. No surprise really, since Tai O cops for first blast of the Pearl River Delta airborne sludge.           
 

Heaven in Hong Kong

It’s an idyllic spot nonetheless, and the old police station is a perfectly preserved example of British colonial architecture. Built in 1902 on the small hill next to Tai O Ferry Pier, it bolstered the community police presence on Lantau Island as they valiantly dealt with pirates, helped defuse family disputes and sorted out arguments between villagers. Officers of the Old Tai O Police Station were under the marine police and patrolled by sampan. Vehicle access was clearly not a priority then and is still not an option today. Due to the declining crime rates--that must be a first--the police station shut up shop in 2002.