Long Island, but not that Long Island
Cheung Chau means Long Island in Cantonese. It is one of the small outlying islands of the Hong Kong SAR. Perhaps its name should be Deceptively Small-looking and Very Steep Island.
The only way to reach this island is by ferry, and no cars are permitted on Cheung Chau. That in and of itself is relaxing enough to be able to walk around with our family and not dodge all the cars or inhale any exhaust. Most of the beaches are an easy walk from the ferry dock, but just about everything else on the island requires serious hiking up and down the steep hillsides. The paths are paved, fortunately, but the hills are still steep. To get to the house where we stayed and to get to a pirate cave that is an attraction of the island required hours of walking uphill (both ways it seemed).
We required a lot of breaks during all of our hiking around, having luggage and three children
(one a two-month old in a carrier) between our two families. The breaks allowed us fantastic views of the rocky coast and South China Sea.
Heck, even the cemeteries (and there were a lot of them) had great views of the South China Sea. In this particular one, the tombstones even face out to sea.
We stayed at a missionary retreat center run by Bethany Ministries. My friend Katie, with whom we went, had stayed here before, first when she was an English teacher in China. There are many Christian organizations operating legally inside of China offering aid but not necessarily proselytizing. Some teach English; one of the early interviewees on At Home in China podcast worked for a Christian micro-credit company. Bethany Ministries provides a retreat house primarily for the Asian missionaries, though Katie, because of her past affiliation, was able to get us inexpensive rooms there for the night.
The highlight of the trip was, of course, the beach. It was just about all that Myles wanted to do.
It was the very first thing we did when we arrived.
It was all he wanted to do the second day we were there. He even was up before 6 am, wondering why no one else was ready to hit the beach.
Cheung Chau is also interesting because religious people are everywhere. I don't know why, but this island hosts several Taoist temples (no less than four are dedicated to Tin Hau), a Buddhist college, a Salvation Army retreat center, Bethany Ministries, a Lutheran camp, a Salesian retreat house, a Catholic youth camp, a Jesuit retreat house, and probably several other things I forgot or didn't see.
Filial devotion was evident everywhere. Between the cemeteries with their areas for burnt offerings, and the houses with their altars outside their gates, this is probably one very smoky place around the Chinese New Year and especially Tomb-Sweeping day.
All over the hillside we also saw many apparently abandoned houses. One of the directors of Bethany Ministries said that they have tried to acquire some of those neighboring properties as they've needed to add to their facilities, but with no luck. Many Chinese people still value the ancestral connections to these properties. They may have no interest in living or even rehabilitating these homes, but they also will never part with them. It gave this small island yet another romantic dimension.
One sign I saw all over the place in the village was this advertising the Diocese of Hong Kong's plan to join in the Pope's special May prayers for the Church in China. As I mentioned before, the Hong Kong Diocese had to cancel their plans to pilgrimage to Sheshan outside of Shanghai for the weekend of May 24. I don't know if this sign advertises their new plans, or if it had already been in the works for those Hong Kong-ers that would have been unable to go to Shanghai anyway.
By the way, if you are following the developments regarding the busy pilgrimage month of May in Sheshan and haven't already read what Adam wrote last week, this is a must read. The Diocese of Hong Kong shouldn't take it personally; no one is getting to the shrine in Sheshan easily this month.
The only way to reach this island is by ferry, and no cars are permitted on Cheung Chau. That in and of itself is relaxing enough to be able to walk around with our family and not dodge all the cars or inhale any exhaust. Most of the beaches are an easy walk from the ferry dock, but just about everything else on the island requires serious hiking up and down the steep hillsides. The paths are paved, fortunately, but the hills are still steep. To get to the house where we stayed and to get to a pirate cave that is an attraction of the island required hours of walking uphill (both ways it seemed).
We required a lot of breaks during all of our hiking around, having luggage and three children
(one a two-month old in a carrier) between our two families. The breaks allowed us fantastic views of the rocky coast and South China Sea.
Heck, even the cemeteries (and there were a lot of them) had great views of the South China Sea. In this particular one, the tombstones even face out to sea.
We stayed at a missionary retreat center run by Bethany Ministries. My friend Katie, with whom we went, had stayed here before, first when she was an English teacher in China. There are many Christian organizations operating legally inside of China offering aid but not necessarily proselytizing. Some teach English; one of the early interviewees on At Home in China podcast worked for a Christian micro-credit company. Bethany Ministries provides a retreat house primarily for the Asian missionaries, though Katie, because of her past affiliation, was able to get us inexpensive rooms there for the night.
The highlight of the trip was, of course, the beach. It was just about all that Myles wanted to do.
It was the very first thing we did when we arrived.
It was all he wanted to do the second day we were there. He even was up before 6 am, wondering why no one else was ready to hit the beach.
Cheung Chau is also interesting because religious people are everywhere. I don't know why, but this island hosts several Taoist temples (no less than four are dedicated to Tin Hau), a Buddhist college, a Salvation Army retreat center, Bethany Ministries, a Lutheran camp, a Salesian retreat house, a Catholic youth camp, a Jesuit retreat house, and probably several other things I forgot or didn't see.
Filial devotion was evident everywhere. Between the cemeteries with their areas for burnt offerings, and the houses with their altars outside their gates, this is probably one very smoky place around the Chinese New Year and especially Tomb-Sweeping day.
All over the hillside we also saw many apparently abandoned houses. One of the directors of Bethany Ministries said that they have tried to acquire some of those neighboring properties as they've needed to add to their facilities, but with no luck. Many Chinese people still value the ancestral connections to these properties. They may have no interest in living or even rehabilitating these homes, but they also will never part with them. It gave this small island yet another romantic dimension.
One sign I saw all over the place in the village was this advertising the Diocese of Hong Kong's plan to join in the Pope's special May prayers for the Church in China. As I mentioned before, the Hong Kong Diocese had to cancel their plans to pilgrimage to Sheshan outside of Shanghai for the weekend of May 24. I don't know if this sign advertises their new plans, or if it had already been in the works for those Hong Kong-ers that would have been unable to go to Shanghai anyway.
By the way, if you are following the developments regarding the busy pilgrimage month of May in Sheshan and haven't already read what Adam wrote last week, this is a must read. The Diocese of Hong Kong shouldn't take it personally; no one is getting to the shrine in Sheshan easily this month.
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