She rode every Hong Kong ferry. So what did she find on city’s remote islands and coasts?

When a long-time Hong Kong resident found a list of official ferry routes, it opened a new world for her. She decided to ride them all On the southern flank of Hong Kong Island, a small fleet of ferries picks its way between sampans, yachts and fishing vessels, from early in the morning until late at night. Wooden, ancient-looking and high-sterned, they seat just a few dozen passengers, and their journey takes barely three or four minutes.

The price per trip: HK$2.50. This is Aberdeen Harbour .

The original Hong Kong. When European explorers first came ashore here, they mistakenly applied the name of the location, Heung Gong, or “Fragrant Harbour”, to the entire island. Now the erstwhile fishing villages on either side of Aberdeen Harbour are forests of high-rise blocks.

Between them, the dinky little ferries shuttle to and fro amid the not-so-fragrant whiff of fish, seawater and motor oil. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Aberdeen Harbour, which you can cross by “kaito” ferry for HK$2.

50. Photo: Dickson Lee","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.

com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/06/f823163f-02d9-46e2-a9c8-9e99dae6eb35_a70fa053.jpg"} Aberdeen Harbour, which you can cross by “kaito” ferry for HK$2.50.

Photo: Dickson Lee It is a gloriously quirky ride, and it helped get me mildly obsessed with Hong Kong’s varied transport options. Then, in January 2021, as Covid-19 was sweeping across the world, and with international travel nea.