Tai O
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Tai O - Lantau Island
The fishing village Tai O is located on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong’s biggest island – Lantau Island, and is very popular for its seafood, stilt-hoses and fishing culture. Locals love to visit this unique fishing village, strolling through the small streets, exploring the surroundings, taking photographs and looking for the best seafood and snacks. Visiting Tai O gives you a chance to experience a huge contrast to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong’s busy streets with an authentic setting of the old Tai O fishing village.
Tai O is one of the few remaining fishing villages in Hong Kong and a rare example of a traditional Chinese stilt-house community. Fishermen started to reside since the Ming Dynasty and the reasons to build up the traditional Chinese Stilt-hoses can be seen in the geographical and ecological location of Tai O. The small water channels between Tai O Island and Lantau Island were not only an ideal place to anchor boats and ships, but also to build up the unique stilted houses. The building style of the stilt-houses in Tai O dates back as far as the 19th century.
Tai O was once Hong Kong’s most important fishing ports for more than 200 years. Tai O’s special geographic location with its shallow waters helped to develop the fishing industry. The industry relied heavily on salt to preserve fish and the shallow coastal waters have been optimal to produce salt in large amounts.
However, Tai O has become a popular sightseeing location the village is struggling and it seems that it is only a matter of time when the traditional fishing culture will vanish. With more and more people leaving the village and moved to the city, as well as the decreasing population, statistics show Tai O now depends and focuses more on tourism rather than its fishing industry.
As a fishing village, Tai O is famous for its specialties such as dried seafood, salted fish, shrimp paste and sauce. You can easily spot plenty of various shops selling seafood-related products once you walk into the Tai O Street Market. Tai O also consists of many cooked food stalls. You will encounter a snack or street food stalls every turning or corners and almost all of the cooked seafood stalls sell fresh and delicious snacks.
Tai O is also famous for the Pink Dolphins. Several boat tours are available and offered, each boat ride costs around HK$20. Small motorboats and local “kaitos” will take you on a short trip around the village and spot these beautiful dolphins in the sea.