The Corner of Tung Wan Rd. and Church Road

(Don't forget to check out the destination guide addendum to this post, which takes you beyond the food to some other facets of Cheung Chau you can check out!)

On weekends, the corner of Tung Wan Street and Church Road is a bustling place on Cheung Chau island, and for good reason, there are a handful of great mom and pop shops selling some pretty interesting snacks and desserts here, not to mention the East Lake Restaurant is right there, and so is the main beach of the island.

Recently opened near the corner of Tung Wan and Church is this small shop that sells just one thing only - home-made deep-fried-before-your-eyes potato chips.

But the kicker for these self-proclaimed "Crazy Jack Potato Giant Chips" is the fact that they're not technically "chips" after all. You can peak at them doing some sort of handy-work on each individual potato with a knife, and then another employee pokes a stick from one end of the potato through to the other in a fancy feat spiraling the potato onto the stick. Once fried, you're free to pepper on any condiment your heart so desires, from salt to curry and everything in between! At this time these works of aesthetically pleasing Crazy Jack Potato Chips are pretty expensive (13 HK), considering it's just a potato after all.


If you're not into aesthetic novelties, then check out the mom and pop shop right next door - 新照記小食店 (san jiu gei siu sihk dihm) - which has got all the characteristically Hong Kong snacks and sweets.


This is a grass jelly with sago dessert (涼粉椰汁西米露 leuhng fan ye jap sai mai louh). Really delicious. I'm quite a fan of grass jelly, with its soothing texture and its chilling taste - its Chinese translates literally as chilled powder. And how could you go wrong pouring coconut juice onto any dessert? Truly fantastic, especially for a hot day, which is perfect considering that the beach is just a minute walk away! The mochis are really tasty too, with a variety of flavors including egg-milk (奶黃 laaih wohng), sesame (芝麻 ji mah） and peanut-sesame (花生芝麻 fa sang ji mah).

And then around the corner next to this shop on Church Road is yet another mom and pop shop selling Japanese style snacks. It doesn't seem to have a name other than what it sells: 日本紅豆餅 Japanese red-bean cakes. Just look for the red sign.

As for the main course, I highly recommend going diagonally across from this hustling and bustling corner (back towards the pier) to East Lake Restaurant (東湖菜館), the best food I've had on the island out of the several I've tried.

西蘭花帶子 Fried Scallops with Broccoli

薑蔥田雞 Fried Frog with Ginger and Spring Onion

招牌香妃雞 Boiled Chicken with[sic] Chinese Style

These are all standard Cantonese dishes, so there's nothing special to report about them. But wow, if you want standard Cantonese dishes done exceptionally well, eat here. Normally I'm not even a fan of scallops, definitely not frog either. But everything was in perfect proportion, down to the fragrantly pleasant scallions topped with mushrooms and a salty-sweet sauce over the hearty stalks of broccoli. The fried frog had a subtle charred taste that went especially well with the hint of ginger. As for the chicken, which is their specialty, it was a tad on the dry side but actually the natural juices of the chicken along with the special 香妃 (heung fei) cooking method - which I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I know it's special!) easily made for the best Cantonese-style chicken I've ever had.

Some of you may be wondering about the conspicuous absence of any seafood dishes, which of course Cheung Chau cuisine is known for. Oh well, there's always next time for me. But the interesting part is that you can go on over to the wet market yourself and buy your own "swimming fish" (游水魚 a Cantonese expression for extremely fresh fish) and other seafood, and then bring it to the restaurant where they'll prepare it for you. If you want to skip this step, you still have to either call or stop in earlier to let them know you want seafood because they don't keep any at their shop.


長洲
東灣路85號
Cheung Chau island
85 Tung Wan Road
29813869



So while I'd recommend exploring the many quaint little restaurants and shops on your own in Cheung Chau, I have to warn that I had a bad food experience at 海龍王海鮮大排檔 and one mediocre food experience at another ocean-side restaurant. This is not to say that the ocean-side restaurants are bad; I've been to a few good ones. But I personally think that if you want to go somewhere that you can't go wrong, head over to East Lake Restaurant, and check out the snack shops around it while you're at it.

長洲 Cheung Chau Addendum - destination guide #1

Cheung Chau is one of my favorite places in all of Hong Kong. It's one of the two most popular small island getaways that local Hongkies, expats, and tourists alike love to go to, the other island being Lamma Island. But to me, Cheung Chau is far more interesting because beneath the slower-paced village-like persona of this fishing village lies a rich local culture andhistory, with fascinating lore and legends of pirates, suicides, a Qing dynasty broad sword, a 3000 years old rock carving, and other little things to satiate those with quirky tastes for stories and historical anecdotes. Plus, the beaches aren't bad, the hiking is pleasant and relaxing against a backdrop of rolling green hills and the soothing ocean waves, the much-adored banyan trees are inspiring, and of course the food is great. Without further ado, on to the historical gems of Cheung Chau!

Historical Sites

- myself with broad sword at Pak Tai 北帝 temple (left)
- a 3000 years old rock carving (right)

Pak Tai 北帝 temple was constructed in 1783, and is most known for the fact that the famous Bun Festival is held annually in front of it. What few people know is that contained in this temple is a sword dating back to dynastic China (Qing dynasty perhaps), which is not publicly on display. Luckily, I gained access through a connection I had with my Cantonese teacher. As for the 3000 years old rock carving, few people know or care about it, which is understandable since it really is unimpressive. What interests me about it though is the fact that it was ludicrously cited by Gavin Menzies, author of 1421: The Year China Discovered The World, who claimed that this was a record commemorating the circumnavigation of the globe by admiral Zheng He 鄭和 and his fleet. After reading his interesting book, I came here in excitement, only to find this weathered artistic inscription.

If you're not as interested in the obscure historical bits like I am, then try to come on the 8th day of the 4th month of the lunar calendar for the Bun Festival, which is brimming with rural Chinese culture and tradition. Here you see them setting up for a tradition whereby contestants climb the mountain of buns to see who can snatch one from the highest point. They've only restarted this annual tradition lately because of a serious accident some decades ago, so take advantage of this and check it out!

The second popular historical attraction is the cave where 19th century pirate Cheung Po Tsai 張保仔 kept his treasure. Although I didn't find any remaining treasure in this somewhat deep and long cave that exits at a different point from its entrance, this doesn't mean that you might not find something! Just remember to bring a flashlight if you don't want to get stuck using the LED of your cell phone, or the flash from your camera.





Natural Sites
This rock which strikingly resembles a rabbit and some easter eggs reminds me of some certain emails I've gotten from evangelists. Here's another funky-looking rock that resembles another animal.




In fact, the whole island has some pretty interesting rock formations. But if you're not one with a wild imagination, hikes to hill-top peaks provide some nice rewarding views, like the one in the photo below.



And lastly about Cheung Chau, a good deal of Hongkies like to get away from the hustle and bustle by coming here, sometimes staying a night and making a weekend trip out of it. One thing you could do is a Hong Kong style barbecue, which is like campfire style except you're going all out, because the smores are just the finale! In this picture, we're at the grocery market to buy the soon-to-be-bbq'd food.



HK style BBQ isn't something you can only do at Cheung Chau, there are pits set up pervasively throughout Hong Kong. But it's really nice if you can do it at Cheung Chau, with its relaxing quaint backdrop.

To get to Cheung Chau, take a ferry from Central. The fast ferry is air-conditioned and will get you there in half an hour. The slow ferry will get you there in about an hour. I actually prefer the slow ferry because the wind refreshingly reminds me that I'm at sea, providing a more naturally pleasant journey than the fast ferry. Here's the schedule.

To learn more about Cheung Chau:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Chau