Yim Tin Tsai

Yim Tin Tsai is a small island off Sai Kung whose Hakka villagers converted to Catholicism in the nineteenth century and built St Joseph's Chapel above the shore, still standing and still used for an annual festival that brings former residents back. The village emptied by the 1990s. Since then descendants and volunteers have restored the chapel, opened a village heritage exhibition and, most unusually, brought the island's abandoned salt pans back into production, harvesting sea salt by evaporation as the village once did. Both projects received UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage awards. A short trail loops the island past mangroves, the pans and a viewpoint.

What you actually see

• St Joseph's Chapel - the restored church of a Hakka Catholic village.
• Working salt pans - evaporation ponds brought back into production.
• The village heritage house - the exhibition on island life.
• The island loop trail - mangroves, pans and a viewpoint in an hour.

When to go

October to April for comfortable walking; the salt harvest runs in the dry months. Half a day. Boats are frequent at weekends and sparse midweek.

Honest expectations

Midweek boats are few and the island can be hard to reach. Most village houses remain ruined. Facilities are a small kiosk and toilets. The loop takes an hour, so the boat timetable governs the visit.

Nearby

Sai Kung town is west; Sharp Island lies south.