Pui O

Pui O has a wide grey-sand beach with a campsite behind it, but what people come to see is inland: the flat wetland between the village and the road, once rice paddy, is grazed by a herd of feral water buffalo, descendants of animals left behind when farming stopped, who wallow in the mud, cross the road at their own pace and lie in the fields with egrets on their backs. They are protected and monitored by volunteers, and drivers on the South Lantau Road are warned about them. The wetland is also good for dragonflies and marsh birds, and the beach is one of the few in Hong Kong where camping is straightforward.

History

Lo Pui O, the old name of Pui O, was one of five Lantau villages resettled when the coastal ban of the Great Clearance was lifted in 1669. Under the Qing, when pirates often raided coastal villages, the villages of Pui O were built as walled villages and set back from the sea, and the place appears on Western maps from 1815, sometimes as Poyo (Wikipedia, Pui O).

What you'll find

• Feral water buffalo - the herd grazing the old paddy fields.
• Egrets riding the buffalo - the birds working the same ground.
• The wetland behind the beach - former rice paddy now marsh.
• Beach camping - one of the easier legal campsites on the coast.

When to go

October to April for comfortable weather and easier buffalo watching; summer is hot and the wetland is buggy. Half a day. Keep well back from the animals.

Good to know

The buffalo are large wild animals with calves and should not be approached or fed; people are hurt doing it. The beach is grey and less attractive than Cheung Sha. Facilities are basic. Buses are infrequent.

Nearby

Mui Wo is east; Cheung Sha lies west.