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Kylie Knott

On Hong Kong’s Kat O island, 79-year-old Fong Sam-kiu chops wood to feed the outside stove on which she cooks her meals.
Nets and pots hang on the walls, reminders of the days when she fished the local waters for sea urchins.
“I will never move to the city,” says Fong, whose husband has died and whose five children moved off the island years ago. “I need peace and clean air.”
One of the largest islands in Hong Kong’s northeast New Territories, at 2.35 square kilometres (0.9 square miles), Kat O – nicknamed Crooked Island due to its twisted shape – has just 50 residents.
But it was not always so quiet.

The island’s population nudged 6,000 in the 1950s and ’60s, with its bustling fishing and farming community providing a vital rest stop for boats travelling between Hong Kong and mainland China.
The tranquil bay view in front of Fong’s home is a stark contrast to the hectic scene of cranes and boats lining Shenzhen’s Yantian container port, which is clearly visible to the island’s north.
Those keen to learn more about the island’s heritage and history can pick up a copy of The Lucky Harbour – Kat O (HK$80) from the Kat O Story Room, a building on the island that offers displays covering the heritage, history, stories and customs of Kat O.
Available in Chinese, with English translation, the book tells how over the last 300 years, 43 clans belonging to 37 families have called Kat O home, with the island one of the few communities in Hong Kong where Hakka people, who were traditionally farmers, and Tanka people, traditionally involved in fishing, coexisted harmoniously.

A decline in fish resources, however, forced many villagers to urban Hong Kong. Others carved out livelihoods in places such as Britain, Australia and the Netherlands, with Kat O’s migration wave peaking in the 1980s. By then, about 80 per cent of the population had moved overseas.
Some, like May Liu, who moved to Britain with her family in 1979, have returned to their roots.
On a sunny Saturday in November, Liu – who returned home in 2012 – is making traditional Hakka sticky rice cakes (cha guo) comprising glutinous rice flour, sugar, water and crushed dried fever vine leaves that she adds to the dough.
“These cakes are popular in April for Ching Ming [tomb-sweeping day],” says Liu, adding that the fever vine’s leaves, rich in vitamin C, are the most lush at that time.

Used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to help eliminate dampness and toxins and boost digestion, fever vine (Paederia foetida) is one of 100 recorded medicinal plants found on Kat O.
The mint-like herb mesona (Platostoma palustre) is another. It is the key ingredient in grass jelly, a refreshing Hakka snack made with the plant’s juice that is cooked with rice milk and turns black and gelatinous when it cools. The bittersweet balls in bubble tea are often made of grass jelly.
Hong Kong has more than 250 outlying islands, but getting to Kat O is more challenging than to ones such as Cheung Chau, Peng Chau and Lamma that have regular daily ferry services.
A ferry to Kat O from Sha Tin’s Ma Liu Shui public pier is only available on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, with just one operating on those days. It departs Ma Liu Shui at 9am and Kat O at 3.30pm.

Passengers can stay on the ferry after Kat O and head to nearby Ap Chau, Hong Kong’s smallest inhabited island, where they can stop for an hour before the ferry heads back to Kat O, or spend the entire time exploring Kat O.
The island is part of the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark and most visitors to Kat O are hikers exploring the heritage trail that connects important historical and cultural relics.
Along the 3.5km (2.2-mile) trail are 27 information panels, with QR codes to access stories told by villagers and geopark guides, as well as historical photos.
Sites along the way include the stunning deserted beach of Tung O Wan and a giant 100-year-old “Lovers’ Tree” – local legend says that if you make a wish in front of it, marriage will soon follow.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Kat O Main Street was a hive of activity, with more than 60 shops.
Today, a couple of stalls sell traditional Hakka snacks such as turnip cake with dried shrimp, rice flour dumplings stuffed with mango, lotus seeds and peanuts, and red bean pudding, a chewy treat comprising sticky rice flour, brown sugar and red beans.
With Kat O’s beaches and hills – its two main peaks, Ko Tei Teng and Ko Pang Teng, rise about 80 metres (262 feet) above sea level – it is easy to picture idyllic childhoods spent on the island.
“It was great growing up here,” says Mr Wing, another returnee, who lived in the Netherlands and Scotland for more than 40 years, where he worked as a chef.

The 66-year-old says that in the 1960s and ’70s, there were about 600 students and 22 teachers at the island’s only school.
Built in 1954, the public school closed in 2005 and today is one of the many abandoned buildings being swallowed up by a tangled network of roots from fig and banyan trees.
Jimmy Wong, too, has happy childhood memories of Kat O. He returned to the island 10 years ago after 51 years of running restaurants in Perth, Australia. His wife and four children still live in the country.
As a boy, Wong would wake up and swim or explore the island.
“There was a very strong sense of community. People caught fish or killed a pig to sell each day at the market.”

Kat O’s now-abandoned pig farm was set up in the 1950s and, in its heyday, housed 500 to 600 pigs, the pork feeding the domestic market. Today, locals stock up on supplies from the restricted border town of Sha Tau Kok, which in January opened up to allow 1,000 visitors a day.
Wong recalls villagers diving for oysters. Pearling is part of Hong Kong’s marine heritage – the city was, after all, dubbed the “Pearl of the Orient”. But overharvesting destroyed the industry.
Wong says divers from Kat O were so skilled that in the 1950s, about 100 became professional pearl divers in the remote town of Broome in Australia, once the world’s largest pearling port.
These days, Wong volunteers at the Kat O Story Room, a must-see for visitors keen to dive into the island’s past.


Situated in the island’s Tin Hau Temple, the Kat O Story Room is a Grade 3 historic building that was constructed in 1763 and is adorned with colourful ceramic tiles and figurines. The crown jewel is a bronze bell made during the Qianlong period (1736-1795).
According to folklore, Kat O is blessed with a lucky dragon’s vein – energy lines that run throughout China, according to feng shui. To keep it strong, a festival known as On Lung Tai Ping Ching Chiu takes place every 10 years. First held in 1756, the next is in 2026.
A similar, smaller-scale ceremony, Ngat Chiu, is held every five years. The Taoist ceremony is performed to thank the gods, pray for peace and keep disasters at bay.

While the island’s curved shape has provided fishermen shelter from typhoons – Kat O in Cantonese means “lucky harbour” – it has not been totally spared nature’s wrath.
In 1962, Typhoon Wanda destroyed many fishing boats, while Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 left residents without power and fresh water.
“During Mangkhut, the water came into my home and reached up here,” says Fong, pointing about half a metre up a pole. The monster storm, whose winds reached a high speed of 285km/h (177mph), forced her to flee to higher ground.
For most of the time, Kat O is calm. Kiffy Cho loves the chilled vibe. Sitting on Main Street, she is completely in the zone as she makes a ring using a macramé weaving technique.
“I sell my jewellery at markets around Hong Kong,” says Cho, showing her Instagram account (@loomloomthings).


Cho’s island connection is her husband, who works at Yik Man Restaurant, one of Hong Kong’s most remote, which his parents own.
Yik Man serves seafood dishes such as blanched prawns, steamed pomfret with black bean garlic sauce, and steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli, and Hakka favourites including braised pork belly and salty poached chicken.
Its signature cuttlefish balls – handmade with squid, pork, spring onion and dried orange peel, with an option of soup noodles and seaweed – is a bestseller.
“The fish balls are different from what you get elsewhere in Hong Kong,” says restaurant worker Winston Ho.

Ho, who was born in Britain, moved to his mother’s birthplace a month ago to escape the hustle of London. “I wanted a slower pace.”
While most residents are returnees settling into retirement, “30-something” Ho has a different perspective of Kat O, one shaped not by its past but by the island’s potential.
“I would love to convert some of the abandoned buildings into Airbnbs,” he says, adding that the government should invest more into preservation projects.
A former English teacher, Ho also dreams of reviving the abandoned school and maybe even teaching there.
“Kat O is a special village that could be a secret getaway for those living in the city,” he says.
“In the warm weather it’s shirt off and straight into the water. Right now it’s too cold to swim, so I spend days fishing and hiking – it’s perfect.”

How to get to Kat O
Apart from chartering a private boat, the easiest way to Kat O is by ferry from Ma Liu Shui Pier 3, which is a 15-minute walk from University station (exit B) on the MTR’s East Rail Line.
The ferry operates on weekends and public holidays only, leaving at 9am and departing Kat O at 3.30pm, with the journey taking 1 hour 45 minutes each way.
Tickets (HK$90 same day round trip) can be bought at the pier with cash or Octopus – a makeshift machine is set up on the pier.
Ferries also run from the border town of Sha Tau Kok but permits are required.
For ferry service details, visit the Transport Department’s website.


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Crooked Island (Kat O) in Hong Kong’s northeast New Territories. Photo: Warton Li

Fong Sam-kiu, 79, relaxes in the outdoor eating area of her home in Kat O, one of the largest outlying islands in Hong Kong’s northeast New Territories. Photo: Kylie Knott


The peaceful vibe of Kat O stands in stark contrast to Shenzhen’s Yantian container port, which can be seen in the distance. Photo: Warton Li

A woman sells traditional Hakka snacks from a stall on Kat O Main Street. Photo: Kylie Knott

Kat O resident May Liu makes traditional Hakka leaf cakes. Photo: Kylie Knott

Visitors can get to Kat O on a ferry from Ma Liu Shui public pier. Photo: Kylie Knott

A view of Tung O Wan beach from Ko Pang Teng hill, which is a 20-minute hike from Kat O’s ferry pier. Photo: Kylie Knott 

Mr Wing with his three-month-old puppy Coffee. Photo: Kylie Knott

Jimmy Wong returned to Kat O in 2014. Photo: Kylie Knott

The Tin Hau Temple on Kat O houses the Kat O Story Room. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

One of many abandoned buildings on Kat O. Photo: Kylie Knott 

Villagers dress in traditional Hakka-style costumes to celebrate the On Lung Tai Ping Ching Chiu Festival on Kat O in 20226. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Kiffy Cho makes jewellery outside Yik Man Restaurant on Kat O. Photo: Kylie Knott

An abandoned building on Kat O is overgrown with roots. Photo: Kylie Knott

Winston Ho swapped “noisy and polluted” London for a quiet life on Kat O, where his mother was born. Photo: Kylie Knott

The ferry pier on Kat O island. Photo: Kylie Knott

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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Food & Drink

Also known as Crooked Island, Kat O was a thriving fishing and farming community in the past. Now residents love its relaxed atmosphere


Also known as Crooked Island, Kat O was a thriving fishing and farming community in the past. Now residents love its relaxed atmosphere.
