Mui Wo

Mui Wo, also called Silvermine Bay, is the ferry gateway to Lantau from Hong Kong Island and one of the quietest places in the territory reachable in under an hour: a small waterfront, a bus terminus, a beach, a wet market and a population that moves largely by bicycle. Behind the village a path follows a stream to the Silvermine waterfall and on to the entrance of a lead and silver mine worked in the nineteenth century, its main adit now gated with a viewing platform and interpretation. Old village houses and a small watchtower stand among the fields, and buses run from the pier to the beaches, Ngong Ping and Tai O.

History

In 1277 the fleeing Southern Song court took refuge in Silvermine Bay, then called Mei Yu, and in March 1278 the boy emperor Duanzong fell from a boat here and nearly drowned, dying a few months later. Farmers were living in the valley by the 16th century, Mui Wo was one of five Lantau villages resettled when the Great Clearance was lifted in 1669, and by the 19th century it had grown into six villages; a silver and lead mine near the waterfall opened in March 1886 and had closed by 1898 (Wikipedia, Mui Wo).

Highlights

• The Silvermine waterfall - the stream walk behind the village.
• The old mine adit - the nineteenth-century silver workings, now gated.
• A town that moves by bicycle - the quiet grid behind the ferry pier.
• The bus hub for Lantau - services to Ngong Ping, Tai O and the beaches.

When to go

October to April for walking. Half a day, or as a transit point. Ferries run frequently but fast and slow services differ in price and time.

Good to know

There is little to do beyond walking and eating, which is the point for some and dull for others. The beach is grey and modest. The mine can only be viewed from outside. Weekend ferries and buses are crowded.

Nearby

Pui O is west; Central is across the water.

Key facts