While I was enjoying the sights of the flowers and the birds and spending time in sartorial haven, the little boy made a trip to Lantau island with grand-dad. K claims that the Lantau Island trip is his favorite-est part of our 6 days Hong Kong visit, even better than Disneyland. Disneyland is only at No.3 of the best places that he has visited in Hong Kong.

Part of the attraction of Lantau Island beaches are the Water Buffaloes in Pui O Beach. These Water Buffalo were once a part of village life on Lantau, owned by farmers to plough the coastal plains for wet-land rice cultivation.

These Water Buffalo droppings were considered the most important fertilizer for gardens then. However as many of the Lantau Island farmers ceased farming and moved to mainland Hong Kong, these buffaloes were left to fend for themselves on the fields.

The other feature of Lantau Island are the pristine beaches with clear waters…

…and the mussels that can be found in abundance during low tide.

Mussels and shells picked up at Pui O beach

More ‘treasures’ found at Shui Han Beach

Shui Han Beach Kite-boarders in the background

You can get to Lantau island by MTR, just take to the end of Tung Chung line and then grab a taxi to Southern Lantau.

Coming up in the Part 5 of Hong Kong 2012, a glimpse into a place where locals get their fresh produce.

Here are the other parts of this series of posts :

Part 1 – Hong Kong Disneyland Fun and Food

Part 2 – Flowers and Birds

Part 3 – Sartorial Hong Kong

Related posts:

If you are a crafter who love your hand-mades, Yu Chau Street is a place to go in Hong Kong for buttons, zippers, cloth, beads, lace, ribbons and sequins. This place will put Textile Centre in Singapore to shame :P, with their shops after shops of wholesalers peddling vast array of sartorial wares.

This is the same street where I am certain ETSY sellers from Hong Kong get their supplies of these items, and are probably earning a healthy profit from selling them online.

Don’t get distracted by the busy markets in Ap Liu Street though, as it is the first street that you will see when you step out of the MTR exit at Sham Shui Po station. Yu Chau Street (see map here) is one street after Ap Liu Street, towards Nam Cheong Street.

Look out for the signs (if you can read traditional chinese), ‘Cloth’, ‘Buttons’, ‘Beads’!

Beautiful fabric at Nam Cheong Street, but you need to spot some of the shops that are willing to sell to individual buyers. Or be prepared to buy ALOT.

You can purchase lace by meter, the selection of laces come from China predominantly. These shops used to import European laces, but far lesser these days.

Lots of retro styled buttons. You can purchase buttons individually.

All types of ribbons, sold by the meter.

Vintage-style brooches and Bling

Love to make your own accessories? Then this place is where you should go to find baubles, resins, wood and stones of all kinds.

Look what I spotted in a small alley opposite Nam Cheong Street?

An Old School Barber!

To get to Yu Chau Street, take the Tsuen Wan line MTR to Sham Shui Po station and take A2 exit to Ap Liu Street. Yu Chau Street is just one street after.

Next, part 4 of Hong Kong 2012 will touch on the beaches in Lantau Island.

Here are the other parts of this series of posts :

Part 1 – Hong Kong Disneyland Fun and Food

Part 2 – Flowers and Birds

Related posts:

There are plenty of markets in Hong Kong but the ones that I focused on for this trip is for the nature lover in me; specifically blooms and plants of numerous varieties and (caged) birds of many kinds.

From the Prince Edward Road MTR, head west on Prince Edward Road west towards Fai Yuen Kai (Flower Street – see map here). It is located in the same vicinity of Ladies Market in Tung Choi Street which is to the east of Boundary Street.

Everyday Spring plants (direct translation from Cantonese)

Happy Family plant (translated)

Adjacent to Fa Yuen Kai is Yuen Bo Street Bird Garden, a quaint garden peppered with about 70 small shops selling birds, bird cages, accessories, bird feed and bird food.

The typical profile of a bird owner in Hong Kong is above 40 years old and male. It was a Saturday morning when I was in this bird garden, but I did not spot a female amongst the males who were chatting amongst themselves and admiring their pet birds. The only women here were the pet bird store owners/helpers

The bird garden is a fascinating place to visit, especially if you are planning a trip to the Ladies Market at Tung Choi street.

Next, see a part of Hong Kong which is visited by tailors, fashion designers and crafters.

Here are the other parts of this series of posts :

Part 1 – Hong Kong Disneyland Fun and Food

Related posts: