3 Best Sights in Hong Kong, China

A bridge connects Aberdeen with Ap Lei Chau Island (Duck's Tongue Island), where you'll find popular shopping malls like designer-packed Horizon Plaza.

This 2½-km-long (1½-mile-long) island southwest of Hong Kong is best known as the home of windsurfing Olympic gold medalist Lee Lai-shan. Residents live mostly on the sandbar connecting the two hilly tips of this dumbbell-shaped island. The town harbor is lined with seafood restaurants and shops. A 35-minute fast ferry departs from Central's Pier 5 outside Two IFC.

On sunny weekends, Cheung Chau's Tung Wan beach is so crowded that its sweep of golden sand is barely visible. At one end of the beach is the Warwick Hotel, and plenty of nearby restaurants offer food, refreshments, and shade. Apart from emergency vehicles, no private cars are allowed on this island. Among the tourist attractions, find the striking Pak Tai Temple, one of the oldest in Hong Kong, as well as a cave that allegedly housed the hidden treasures of pirate Cheung Po Tsai.

A couple of temples and shrines dot what's also known as Grass Island, and beautiful beaches line the shore. Most people have a seafood lunch at the New Hon Kee Seafood Restaurant, run by Loi Lam, a stocky, vivacious fellow who speaks fluent English with a fantastic accent he picked up in Manchester, England. A sampan from Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung Country Park will speed you to the island.