Over and Something Rusty (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

 

As regular visitors to my blog know, Hong Kong has a number of photogenic abandoned villages.  For the most part, they tend to be visited only by passing hikers and, on certain religiously significant days of the year, by folks who used to live there and/or their descendants. 

In recent years, however, certain people have got to realizing their tourism potential -- with such as the not easily accessible Lai Chi Wo making an appearance on the Hong Kong Tourism Board website.  And while there's no information on it on the Hong Kong Tourism Board's website (at the time of writing), the likes of CNN have already devoted coverage to Yim Tin Tsai, an abandoned island as well as village that's easily accessible via a 15 minute boat ride from Sai Kung pier.

As one approaches Yim Tin Tsai on the kaido on a weekend, the scene looks pretty lively.  But walk around the village and island, and you will come across ample evidence that Yim Tin Tsai's days as a living community clearly were over some years ago.  

Sure there are a few stalls set up near the main waterfront but they just are there to serve day trippers and the impressive looking chapel on the hill was closed when we visited even though it was a Sunday.  Instead, my friends and I contented ourselves with exploring areas of the village and island that had been given up to nature (witness the moss covered steps along one of the village's paths in the middle photo at the top of this blog entry) and taking photos of sights that we found eye-catching (e.g., the walls of rusty paint inside one of the village's long vacated buildings).  

Having read positive reports of the place, my friends and I were surprised to find that we didn't need to spend as much time to check out Yim Tin Tsai as we had budgeted that we'd need to do.  In retrospect, I think we've probably explored more parts of Hong Kong already than many of those who enthuse about it.  Still, it's an interesting enough place -- and, if nothing else, I reckon that it makes for a good subject for both Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts this week! :)