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Residential blocks crowd Aberdeen’s small, lovely harbour, which is still filled with high-prowed wooden fishing boats despite the fact that overfishing and pollution have decimated the Hong Kong fishing industry. Ignore the ugly town centre and instead photograph the tyre-festooned sampans, or walk to the busy wholesale fish market at the western end of the harbour and watch the catches being loaded onto trucks and vans.

Fish market, Aberdeen Harbour

Also in Aberdeen Harbour are two giant floating restaurants, which are popular but garish, production-line eateries. The most famous, The Jumbo, is said to have served more than 30 million people. Prices are not especially attractive, nor are the culinary achievements. Free ferries shuttle between these restaurants, and pushy sampan handlers also lie in wait for meandering tourists. Take one of these boats if you want to get a good view of the harbour, boats and boatyards. However, when you want to eat, take a ferry from Aberdeen to Lamma Island’s many seafood restaurants instead (see Places to Eat and Drink).

This large theme park is Hong Kong’s answer to Disneyland, though when Hong Kong gets its own Disneyland in 2005, Ocean Park may seem like a poor relation. In the meantime, there’s enough to keep children and adults alike busy for a whole day. Attractions range from rollercoasters to giant pandas and great aquatic displays, such as Atoll Reef, which recreates the habitats and sealife of a coral reef (see Ocean Park).

Aquarium, Ocean Park

There’s an almost Mediterranean air to the lovely beach and waterfront of Deep Water Bay, a popular place for beach lovers and the well-to-do who settle in the Bay’s upmarket housing. The smallish beach is protected by lifeguards and a sharknet, and the water is usually clean. As with most beaches in Hong Kong, it gets crowded in fine weather.

Another popular destination, Repulse Bay’s beach is clean and well-tended, if sometimes over-crowded with thousands of visitors. Eating and drinking choices range from small cafés on the beach to the Verandah , a classy restaurant run by the same group as the Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Try afternoon tea here. The Hong Kong Life Guards Club at the far southern end of the beach is also worth a look for its scores of statues of gods and fabulous beasts.

Remote and undeveloped, the village of Shek O is worth the relatively lengthy train and bus ride necessary to reach it. The serenity is upset only at weekends by droves of sun worshippers heading for its lovely beach. A short walk to the small headland leads to striking rock formations, pounding waves and cooling South China Sea breezes. Surfing and body boarding are often viable on Big Wave Bay, a short walk or taxi ride north. Head to the Black Sheep (see The Black Sheep), a lovely bar and Mediterranean-style restaurant, for a post-ramble beer and a bite to eat.

House by the sea, Shek O

This 4-mile (6-km) walk looks daunting on the map, but the route along the gently ascending ridge of the Dragon’s Back will not mean too much huffing and puffing for the reasonably fit. The reward is unbeatable views down to the craggy coastline of the D’Aguilar Peninsula, Big Wave Bay and genteel Shek O. At a gentle pace the walk should take about three hours, enough time to build up a good appetite when you arrive in Shek O. Take plenty of water.

A former fishing village, Stanley was one of the largest towns on the island before the British arrived and placed a fort on its strategic peninsula. Relics from both eras remain, but Stanley’s many excellent seafront restaurants and its extensive market are justifiably the main draws for visitors (see Stanley).

Supposedly the most densely populated island in the world, Ap Lei Chau (or Duck Island), opposite the Aberdeen waterfront, is crowded with new high-rise developments. Bargain hunters may find a visit to the discount outlets at the southern end of the island worthwhile (see Designer Outlets in Ap Lei Chau). Close to the ferry pier are some small family businesses, boatyards and temples that have survived the modern developments.

Stretching away on the hill above Aberdeen, the Chinese Cemetery is a great place for photographs, both of the cemetery itself and of the harbour beneath. Negotiating the steep, seemingly endless steps is quite an undertaking, though, especially on a hot day.