Cheung Chau: Full of surprises

Cheung Chau 

One of my very favorite places to go for a day out is the island of Cheung Chau.  There are plenty of things to do and see there.  It's a lovely little touristy place packed with little shops selling everything from vegetables to knick knacks, food snacks, tea, long flowing dresses and other kinds of "nacks..."

This post is about one of these shops selling "other nacks."  The name of the shop is Adagio.  Turn left when you get off the ferry and keep going along the water's edge until you come to Siuman's shop.  It's easy to find because there will be Tibetan tied dyed table cloths hanging outside to keep the wind and dust away, and you may see a door hanging hung under her sign as in the photo.  

The first thing that will impress you is Siuman's open friendliness.  She can speak a little English, enough to make conversation...in a limited kind of a way.   Never mind, she's improving... a lot!  The next thing that pops out at you is all the colors and sheer variety of objects displayed.

If you don't want to look like a clone of all your friends, then this is the shop for you.  Some of her designs are best suited to small Chinese women, but there are other things that attract my eye. 

Like the bags. They come in every size and shape.  And, oh, the colors!  The last bag was made by her sister who lives in Yunnan Province, China.

I usually go away with a table cloth or a  door hanging, (like this one hanging in my home,) or both.  (This time it was a door hanging!)

There are owls.  Wooden owls, cloth owls, and owls and owls everywhere.  She likes them.  A lot.  

You'll find a nice assortment of rings, hair accessories and ear rings and bracelets, if that's what you fancy. 

The clothes are of Tibetan and Dali, Yunnan Province, origin.  It's a great place for those long flowing summer skirts that are so cool.  

There are lots of scary masks peering out at you from behind other mysterious objet d'art. 

You need to walk back and forth a few times and really stand and stare in order to see everything. 

This time, when we visited, she was in the process of sewing this little bag.  It took her about  15 minutes to complete.  Ta-dah!  A gift for you madam!

Don't go to Cheung Chau on Wednesdays expecting to see Suiman and receive her gracious hospitality as it's her day off.  Shop will be closed.  Sure there are other shops to see, but none are as nice as hers.  Of course, that's just my opinion.  Take it or leave it!  And if you go in April, she's away to Tibet sourcing wonderful products for her shop.

After you've spent a while there, you can continue your tour of the island.  We headed toward the beach where we got the cobwebs blown out of brains by the cool breezes off the water.  In the summer, this is a hive of activity, but we wouldn't know since we hibernate out of the hot summer heat and refuse to come out til winter.  We're like bears, only in reverse.  But I think if you brought a North American bear to Hong Kong, he'd hibernate in the summer just like us and come out as soon as it was safe not to fry his toenails off!

Cheung Chau has plenty of seafood restaurants along the harbour side. 

There is still a small community of fishermen who make their homes on the water.

Home Sweet Home.

We were pleasantly surprised by this small, unimpressive restaurant on the main road if you turn right after you get off the ferry.  The name is U Can Cook.  I ordered the Baked Pork Chop Rice and to my surprise, there were real carrots and zucchini in it and it wasn't all smothered in tomato sauce.  For the starter, we were presented with real vegetable soup, you know, not the usual red soup you get at most establishments from the can.  

If you go you can take the fast ferry which will get you there in half an hour.  The slow ferry is nice because you can sit on the deck and take pictures.  It takes about 50 minutes.  It just all depends on how much time you want to spend on a ferry.  Ferries leave from Pier 5 in Central.   You can check the ferry schedule at the New World First Ferry website.

I hope you have fun exploring all of Cheung Chau's nooks and crannies.  You never know what surprises you might find waiting for you!