Published: China Daily, Hong Kong edition, Jun 15 2010 9:25
Alex Fung stepped off a narrow boat, crossed a natural beach, and carried on into the woods. After a short distance he found himself gazing at an open field stretching before him. The broad expanse was planted with crops and dotted with trees. Paths meandered across the fields, crisscrossing; making their way to houses on the hillside beyond. Dogs barked above contented sounds of grazing cattle.
This was not a modern Xanadu. The place is situated on Lantau Island , in an untraversed corner. Hakka people maintained a self-sufficient lifestyle here for about two hundred years. Where once their population flourished, only about five old-time residents remain. Four of those are past 80. Fung and his family were in this quiet rural village, about one hour by boat from Hong Kong , to remove themselves from the city's concrete jungle.
"This is the dream place that I have been looking for over several decades," said Simon Chau Sui-Cheong, who discovered the place 10 months ago through a friend.
A social and environmental activist, Chau is a wiry middle-aged man with unkempt hair. His dark skin might cause one to take him for a fisherman. Mud sticks to his bare feet as he walks among the fields. Chau maintains a jaundiced view of modern civilization – sometimes holding views that seem almost extreme. He believes modern civilization ought to return to nature and go "back to the land."
"I always want to find a place to build a green community, where people can grow their own food, live their own life, have their own hospital and school. The community will be able to keep an economic balance. Like a paradise ... with traditional things put together.
"There are a lot of people in different parts of Hong Kong who like such a green, natural way of living; so I always wonder, how nice it would be if we all can live together," he said, beaming his distinctive smile.
Fashioning his dream into reality, Chau created a special camp in the village, a place to eat, sleep and reside, for those who share his passion for leading a healthy, peaceful, pastoral life.
For a PhD in Linguistics from the UK , Chau surprisingly has a wealth of knowledge about agricultural practices. "People always wonder how to remove insects from an organic farm, the truth is, if there are insects in your farm, then you just don't know how to grow them (plants)," he said, adding that plants in different combinations can create a symbiosis through smell that naturally repels insects.
The food for the community grows here. It's organic and cooked in the simplest way. Houses are plain and undecorated. Furniture is basic. There's no nightlife at all, unless one takes into account the fireflies that inspire great exultation among the kids. The species of firefly is almost never seen in other parts of Hong Kong . Chau spends some time with the kids, showing them farming techniques such as transplanting rice seedlings or picking beans. Other than that, there's nothing for Chau to do, except wander through the fields. "I actually hope that people who come here are just busily doing nothing," Chau said.
"People's lives nowadays have been too stressful, too fast, and too abundant. They need to slow down, calm down, and have some space for inspiration; then big ideas will come. Besides, when the human body calms down, it will have the power of self healing," he explained.
The people who have joined Chau's camp are mostly family groups. The parents want their kids to be more in touch with nature, increase their green awareness, and eat healthy food without chemical contamination.
The Fung family exemplifies these sentiments. The parents chose to spend their two-day weekend with their son in this rural place without any trace of industrialization, rather than staying in town and sending their boy to various learning sessions.
The effect is obvious. Kids who grow up in big cities always appear careful to be tidy while their parents are around. Fung's boy runs around the village barefoot, and jumps into streams to catch shrimp. "Bringing him here is like throwing a duck into water," said his mother, smiling and very much satisfied that her boy was so enjoying such a life.
"Living in Hong Kong is just too busy; even people's steps are much faster than in other cities. More people are trying to be close to nature now," the father Fung said.
Chau takes a more radical stance than Fung. He doesn't believe Hong Kong is even a habitable environment. " Hong Kong people are single-minded. It's all about money, money, money."
Chau cited his three partners, saying they also were once typical Hong Kong people but have changed over the last two or three years in the village. "Less commercial, but healthier," he said. "We four are weird. We all dropped our original major in university but are doing something strange and unprofitable. We are all mad, we are all sick," Chau smiled and joked. It's not easy to be so idealistic, especially in the material climate of Hong Kong . Some people who came here are just not really into what he has been promoting or just want to have fun. "Pity, they just want to play a lot and eat a lot," he said.
Moreover, with only some irregular visitors at weekends, it's not easy to run the business. "We desperately need money to carry on," Chau admitted. He is expecting the camp to be profit-making in the next three to six months. "But if not, just forget about it."
He is undeterred in his determination to hold to his ideals. "If no ideals, it (life) will be meaningless," he insisted.
At lunch time a heavy rain began. The plastic sheet above the dinner tables in the yard began leaking in several places. People waiting for lunch moved their tables to drier spots then sat watching the deluge turn the greenery even brighter.
The dogs, being color blind, showed little appreciation for the downpour. They crept into the shelter and lay down, staring balefully out toward the grass where they had been rolling delightedly only a short time earlier.
LifeFlow Island A hideout you can only dream of – on Lantau!
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Enjoy the: beach, grassland, organic farm, stream, old village, fireflies, star gazing, simple meals (vegan, veggie, or non-veg) fresh from the fields and fruit trees, facilities for water sports, war game, camping, board meetings in the open air, training sessions, parties, concerts, meditation, healing… and more.
How to get there There are 3 ways: 1. Take the ferry to Cheung Chau from Pier 5, Central. Hop on the water taxi provided by Resort (15 minute ride).
2. Take a taxi from Lantau’s to Chi Ma Wan ( Sesame Bay ), and walk for 45 minutes.
3. Walk from Pui O (90 minutes).
Catering
- Meals— Breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner.
- Drinks— Tea, coffee, fresh fruit juice and soft drinks.
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-- Over-night stay* (at least 8 persons) Weekdays-- $438 per person per day
Saturday nights and public holidays-- $498 per person per day
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* includes 4 meals and water taxi trips.
-- Day camp**
Weekdays-- $268 per person (at least 15 persons)
Saturday nights and public holidays-- $328 per person
(30% discount for for children between 3 - 11 and seniors over 60)
** includes 2 meals and water taxi trips.
VIP membership
Individual Members
Membership fee $8,800, in return for
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Lantau’s Island Club – A far-flung option for some organic veggies.
January 16, 2010
by Caustic Candy
If you’re looking for something a bit different to do at the weekend, then this might make an interesting trip to buy vegetables.
There used to be a very famous pub on Lantau called the Frog & Toad, it was run by a chap nicknamed Tequila Joe who I think used to be a Canto stuntman or actor or summink. Anyway – it was famous for it’s Mud Olympics and was an awesome stop off for junk trips, but sadly it closed down quite a few years ago.
However, I took a walk over to Dai Long Wan last weekend and there is a little club that has sprung up in its place: The Island Club.
I tell you, it was a stunning day. Not too hot, with a light, cool breeze. The village is lovely (apart from the dog that snapped the boyf’s calf), there are not really any new style village houses, they’re mostly very old school.
Anyhow, as we were trying to find our way out of the village as I was sure there was a way to get to Sea Ranch we struck up a conversation with a lady tending to the rather sweet vegetable patches around the village. Her name is Shirley and as it turns out she runs the Island Club.
You can also buy the lovely organic veggies from the Dai Long Wan Organic Farm, but as we were only 1/3 of the way into our walk we declined. Unfortunately they don’t take these veggies anywhere to sell, so you have to come here. It did strike me that the government ban of keeping chicken and pigs is a bit nuts when villages like this don’t have road access. It’s an idyllic place and being able to keep chickens and pigs would mean that these guys could be utterly self sufficient in food. As it is they just have to call the Kaido’s over from Cheung Chau instead to take them to the shops there.
There is a really nice beach and it’s great for junk trips. If you want you can also just hop off the ferry in Cheung Chau, head off to the little public pier on the right and pay a Kaido to take you. Lovely.
They have lots of watersports equipment that you can rent and she’ll cook bbq’s and sell you lots of booze. It’s very reasonable and looks like it’s a great alternative to going all the way round to Sai Kung’s Dai Long Wan. She even has tents if you want to camp. Check out her website for more details, if you are looking for somewhere a bit different.
Location: Dai Long Wan, Chi Ma Wan peninsula (important as there are at least two Dai Long Wan’s on the island) Lantau.
Getting there: 30min easy hike from Chi Ma Wan Prison, or get a kaido from Cheung Chau for $100.