We Didn’t Like Tai O Fishing Village in Hong Kong

Tai O is a fishing village on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, which is home to the Tanka people who have built houses on over-the-water stilts. It’s praised as a must-visit spot, one of the best things to do in HK, and as stepping back in time to an idyllic village that’s home to friendlier people of a bygone era. Some go as far as to call Tai O Fishing Village the “Venice of Hong Kong.”

The popularity of Tai O is borne out by the crowds. Locals and tourists swarm to the fishing town to see and photograph its unique stilt houses and industry, and dine at its seafood stalls (in a few cases, restaurants). If you look online, you’ll find a lot of glowing reviews, many calling Tai O a must-visit in Hong Kong.

As the title of the post not-so-subtly suggests, we disagree with the hype about Tai O fishing village. In fact, we’d go as far as to call it one of the more overrated places we’ve visited. Perhaps we’re way off base here (everyone else’s feedback would suggest so), but we nonetheless thought we’d offer some of our perspective here on Tai O just in case you’re on the fence about it, and would like our opinion…

Before we get to that, some quick tips and strategy. If you are going to disregard our advice and check out Tai O for yourself, you might want to go on a weekday. Weekends are when locals visit Tai O, and that plus plenty of tourists amounts to congestion.

Since this is still a functioning, industrial fishing village, it’s not made to accommodate tourists. And that’s honestly part of the appeal–that this is a real place, and not somewhere carefully curated or manufactured to appease tourists. Regardless, it means that even a modest crowd makes the walkways difficult to navigate.

If you’re planning on visiting Tai O, make sure to include Tian Tan Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, and perhaps even Hong Kong Disneyland into your itinerary. It’s a bit of a hike getting to Lantau Island (where all of these places are located), so make the trek count.

I’d also probably skip the “temples” in Tai O unless you will see literally no other temples during your entire trip. We walked through a couple of these, and they were underwhelming.

While in Tai O, you might consider taking a boat ride out to see the Chinese White Dolphins (also known as pink dolphins), which are a rare type of dolphin. This species is disappearing thanks to fishing practices, boat traffic, and industrial waste.

We did not take one of these tours, so we cannot really offer further insight into them.

Okay, now for my quibbles with Tai O. The main issue is that I don’t get an ‘idyllic’ vibe from Tai O so much as an impoverished one.

In doing research prior to visiting, my impression was that Tai O exists because its residents are holding onto their way of life. That for over 200 years, this has been a fishing village, and even in the face of Hong Kong’s ever-evolving economy, they embrace their roots. That’s an awesome idea in theory.

Whether that’s an accurate assessment of Tai O is unclear. Many of the people in the village appeared to be older, perhaps at an age and social status that all but precludes making a career leap or significant life change. Or, at the very least, makes it incredibly daunting.

“Embracing their heritage” seems to me to be a pretty rosy way to paint this when “lack of better practical alternatives” might be a more honest, albeit brutal assessment.

We’ve traveled to a variety of places that are more rural, agrarian, or whatever term you want to use. Places that are truly idyllic, or that the locals have allowed time to pass by. This includes farming communities and the countryside in Asia. Lots of lovely places that are worlds away from modern metropolises, but are great on their own merits.

We aren’t people who need modern or picturesque places to visit. A sense of real world grittiness is fine by us, but that’s not what this was. The village felt truly poverty-stricken, and we had an unsettling and a bit of an icky feeling wandering as looky-loo tourists among their homes.

Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe Tai O actually is the “Venice of the Orient” and the people inhabiting the village are happy, living their best lives. That was not my gut-level reaction though, and that’s really all I can offer here.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume the popular narrative about this village embracing its heritage is true. Even then, we were not fans. As people who absolutely love eating seafood, there was a bit too much of a “seeing how the sausage is made” component to Tai O.

Most of the seafood in Tai O looked and smelled foul, and the way it was being handled left a lot to be desired. Tai O is famous for its salted fish and shrimp paste, and one of the first things we encountered while wandering the island was giant tubs of this shrimp paste “curing” out in the sunlight.

I’m genuinely curious as to how this is ultimately treated to make it fit for human consumption. In fairness, I might have a similar reaction to seeing chicken nuggets being made–and this is a fascinating peek behind the curtain, regardless.

Another plus is that some of the streets food did look fairly tasty. It’s the production side of Tai O that we didn’t care for.

For whatever it’s worth, we’ve visited a fishing town outside Kyoto and wandered the famous Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, and absolutely loved both. Again, we’ve been to countless other rural villages while traveling. I feel like offering a caveat that we’ve been to places like this before, so it doesn’t seem like we’re just prissy.

With all of this said, there is no question that the people of Tai O are friendly, and the area is most definitely different, unlike anything else you’ll see in Hong Kong.

There is something to be said for this tight-knit community that has (possibly?) resisted efforts to a changing world all around them, and instead go about their lives and livelihood in the manner that they want. If that’s what this actually is, more power to its people.

From the best I could tell, even though Tai O has become a tourist hot spot, it’s really in no way touristy. There is not much new development, no blatant attempts at cash grabs or exploitation, and the hordes of tourists are (more or less) channeling through fairly commercial areas that would exist irrespective of the presence of tourists.

In these regards, Tai O is a fascinating place. It is also most certainly a significant departure from what you’ll find elsewhere in Hong Kong. If you’re looking for an experience that’s unique and unfiltered, Tai O certainly fits the bill.

Overall, that’s not enough for us. Everywhere in the world has some fascinating history and a story to tell. Being unique and having history do not make a place worth visiting as a point of interest or tourist attraction. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t like Tai O–different strokes for different folks, after all.

However, I would not recommend visiting Tai O on the basis that it’s “different” or “historical.” Appalachia has history and is very different than California and New York, but only two of those places would I recommend to a foreign visitor experiencing the United States. If there’s some other reason that compels you to visit Tai O (or Appalachia), by all means, go for it.

Check out the Hong Kong category to see what else we’ve done in Hong Kong! For more comprehensive planning advice covering everything from where to stay to transportation tips, check out our Ultimate Hong Kong City Guide.

Your Thoughts…

Have you visited Tai O in Hong Kong? What did you think of this fishing village? How would you describe it…idyllic, impoverished, or somewhere in between? Does Tai O interest you? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!