Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [88]
The Trappists, a branch of the Cistercian order, were founded by a converted courtier at La Trappe in France in 1662 and gained a reputation as being one of the most austere religious communities in the Roman Catholic Church. The Lantau congregation was established at Beijing in the 19th century. All of the monks here now are local Chinese.
Trappist monks take a vow of absolute silence, and there are signs reminding visitors to keep radios and music players turned off and to speak in low tones. Give the guys a break: they’re up at 3.15am and in bed by 8pm.
You can reach the monastery on foot by following a well-marked coastal trail from the northern end of Tung Wan Tau Rd in Mui Wo, but it’s much easier to get here by kaido from Peng Chau, Lantau’s little island neighbour to the west. For details, see Click here.
MUI WO Map
Lantau
Mui Wo (Plum Nest), Lantau’s main settlement ‘capital’, is on Silvermine Bay, which is named for the silver mines that were once worked to the northwest along the Silver River. In fact, many foreign residents refer to Mui Wo as Silvermine Bay.
About a third of Lantau’s population lives in the township of Mui Wo and its surrounding hamlets. There are several decent places to stay here and, though the options for eating and drinking are few, they are fine.
Silvermine Bay beach, to the northwest of Mui Wo, has been cleaned up and rebuilt in recent years and is now an attractive place, with scenic views and opportunities for walking in the hills above. There’s a complex with toilets, showers and changing rooms open from April to October.
If you have the time, consider hiking out to Silvermine Waterfall, the main feature of a picturesque garden near the old Silvermine Cave northwest of the town. The waterfall is quite a spectacle during the rainy season, when it swells and gushes; the cave was mined for silver in the latter half of the 19th century but has now been sealed off.
En route to the waterfall you’ll pass the local Man Mo temple, originally built during the reign of Emperor Shen Zong (1573–1620) of the Ming dynasty and renovated a couple of times in the last century.
You can reach the temple, cave and waterfall by walking west along Mui Wo Rural Committee Rd and then following the marked path north. The 3km walk should take about an hour.
There are several old granite watchtowers in the area, including Luk Tei Tong Watchtower on the Silver River and Butterfly Hill Watchtower further north. They were built in the late 19th century as safe houses and as coastal defences against pirates.
HONG KONG DISNEYLAND Map
1830 830; http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com; adult/child 3-11/senior over 65 Mon-Fri $295/250/170, weekends & public holidays $350/250/170; MTR Disney Bay Resort
One of America’s most famous cultural exports finally landed in Hong Kong in late 2005. It’s divided into four main areas –Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland – but don’t expect too much. This is a very small-scale Disney franchise (although there are plans to expand it) with a solitary real adrenaline-inducing roller coaster ride (Space Mountain), while the rest of the park is made up of tamer attractions and of course is rammed with outlets selling Disney merchandise and fast food.
There’s plenty for younger children to enjoy, including the full complement of Disney characters patrolling the park and the odd show re-creating great Disney moments from films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, but take teenagers along and you may face a mutiny. The resurgent Ocean Park ( Click here) offers vastly more variety, thrills and amusement for all ages.
Disneyland is linked by rail with the MTR at the new futuristic Sunny Bay station on the Tung Chung line; passengers just cross the platform to board the dedicated train for Disneyland Resort station and the theme park. Journey times