Tai O

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    bus: 1 from Mui Wo, 11 from Tung Chung, 21 from Ngong Ping

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Lonely Planet review

A century ago this mostly Tanka village on the west coast of Lantau was an important trading and fishing port, exporting salt and fish to China. As recently as the 1980s it traded in IIs (illegal immigrants) brought from China under cover of darkness by 'snakeheads' (smugglers in human cargo) in long narrow boats, sending back contraband such as refrigerators, radios and televisions to the mainland.

Today Tai O is in decline, except perhaps as a tourist destination. A few of the saltpans still exist, but most have been filled in to build high-rise housing. Older people still make their living from duck farming, fishing, making the village's celebrated shrimp paste and processing salt fish, which you'll see (and smell) everywhere. It remains a popular place for locals to buy seafood - both fresh and dried.

Tai O is built partly on Lantau and partly on a tiny island about 15m from the shore. There are also brief river boat tours (9629 4581, 9645 6652; HK$10 /around HK$20 ) departing from the footbridge.

There are a couple of other temples here, including an 18th-century one erected in honour of Hung Shing, patron of fisherfolk; it's on Shek Tsai Po St, about 600m west of the Fook Lam Moon restaurant.