From a worn-down path around Repulse Bay, a rainy day tends to blur the scene’s periphery, and however close the bustling city looms, the black waters and rolling clouds reveal a parallel world to Hong Kong’s urban hustle.

A Tin Hau temple stands at the end of the beach, marking the transition from misty to mystical. While just over the rolling hills one of the world’s densest cities marches and teems through another business day, this Tin Hau pulses at a slower rate.

The idyll in the open mouth of this southern bay is hardly the only such place around Hong Kong Island. To discover some of the territory’s most exquisite retreats, from the ancient to the ethereal, you just have to know where to look, and be attuned to the vibrations of another of the island’s frequencies.