Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

On weekends many visitors from other parts of HK come to visit Park Island. Some come by bus, and others take the ferry. What do visitors do on Park Island? -They go to one of the beaches and swim, and sunbathe. -They go to some of the many bars, restaurants or cafes. Especially popular are the ones that face out over the beach. -They visit some of the parks and nature reserves on Park Island, or go hiking. -Some will bring their dogs, and let their dogs run free on some of the beaches designated as "dog beaches" where dogs are allowed to run freely. -Spa and massage - Park Island has some top end spas, where a massage will cost you around HKD $700. On the village in Ma Wan, you can get traditional foot massages for around HKD $80 an hour. -Seafood - thoes in the know, will visit one of the many local Chinese resataurants in the village part of the island. The crabs, seafood, steamed fish, shrimps, etc are all excellent. -Visit Noah's Ark. This theme park is supri

I love sunshine, and I like it on the beach when it warm, but not burning hot. So, right now the weather in HK is perfect :) I am right now at a cafe that overlooks the beach on Ma Wan (with internet acess), with a glass of fresh orange juice, and a pizza on the way. During the week, not many people visit the beach and its mainly Park Island residents on the island. But on the weekends its packed with lots of visitors from other parts of HK coming over (some to enjoy the beach, and other to sightsee and visit the Noah's Ark theme park.. Both is fine with me - I like it quiet, but also fun to join the crowds in the weekend (and the weekends are surely good for the local shops here). What I really like about the Park Island, is that unlike many of Hong Kong's best beaches, where you need to travel a lon time to get to (and then often with no facilities), the beach is only 2 mins away from my apartment. For those of you worried about sharks, I should add that Park Island has o

This is the first of a weekly blog about Park Island, in Hong Kong. I am going to provide commentary on what its like to live on Park Island, and especially Park Island for expats living in Hong Kong. Ma Wan or 馬灣 in Chinese ) is an island which is part of Hong Kong. Park Island is  located between Lantau Islan and Tsing Yi . Park Island is part of the Tsuen Wan District. The best known beach on the island is Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach. In the last 250 years Ma Wan was a fishing village and until recently it was only accessible by boats or ferries. Things changes on Park Island when the Lantau Link was constructed in the late1990s which connected the new Hong Kong International Airport to the city centre on Hong Kong Island. The highway link passed through Ma Wan, and a ambitious plans to build a luxury property development were launched. The first phase of Park Island was completed in July 2003, and now phases 2, 3 and 5 have already been completed. (There was no phase 4, as 4 in an