Po Toi Island

This giant rock formation looks like a tortoise climbing a hill. You can see not only the shape of the reptile’s head and body, but also one of its legs and its oversized tail.

Curiously, a circular-shaped bush is growing where the eye should be, which completes its Instagram-worthy appeal.

One of the most photographed landmarks on Po Toi Island is the box-shaped lighthouse, marked with the number 126. It sits atop a hill on the southernmost point of the island’s peninsula.

After walking up a small flight of steps, you can walk around the platform at the base of the lighthouse. At the back, you can see a vertical plaque inscribed with a Chinese poem commemorating the deceased. This is also the spot to enjoy unobstructed views of the stunning South China Sea.

Between the lighthouse and the main pier is the unmissable cliffside rock formation known as Buddha’s Hand Rock. When viewed from the hiking trail, this giant cluster of vertical slabs resembles a praying or meditating hand, with an outstretched thumb and four fingers. You can even make out the little finger and some contours that suggest fingernails pointing skywards.

A half-hour kaito ferry ride will take you from Po Toi Island to Blake Pier in Stanley, a cosmopolitan and picturesque town on the south of Hong Kong Island.

Immediately after leaving the pier, you will be on the waterfront of Stanley Main Street. It is lined with a boardwalk on one side, while on the other, a row of old houses and medium high-rise properties house restaurants, bars and a hotel.

This street is a popular place where visitors can relax with a drink and snacks while enjoying an open sea view, or savour a laidback meal as they watch the crowd go by.

This is the most popular and safest beach in Stanley for water activities. On one end, it has a section for swimmers and families to relax on the sand, with shark netting to protect swimmers. Further down is another section, separated by a small, elevated platform, where people can do kayaking and stand-up paddling.

Looking out towards the tranquil Stanley Back Beach, on the other side of the town, you can see Pat Kan Uk, which means ‘eight houses’ in English.

This compound of eight red-brick houses was built in the 1930s to rehouse families relocated from a nearby neighbourhood that had to make way for coastal defence construction work.

These properties, with their distinctive green painted doors and traditional Chinese pitched tiled roofs, are still lived in as private homes. Visitors are reminded not to trespass on these premises.

Benches have been set up under the ageing banyan trees that stand between the houses and the beach, making it an ideal spot for people to sit and unwind.