After going to Bangkok and looking at their horribly constructed steps and stair systems, I never thought I would use the words "Stairs of Mordor" again, but going to Peng Chau definitely changed that...and what's more, I was treated with an abundance of dead, sun-dried fish. Pleasant smells.
The walk around the island started innocently enough, with flat terrain for most of the northern part of the island and very slight gradient slopes heading down towards the southern farms. But then I reached Finger Hill, the highest point on Peng Chau.
From the first glance, the hill looks innocent enough, being no more than 95 meters in height - a quick 30 minute climb, one should say...but that is before you look at how steep the slopes are and worse - how horribly constructed the steep steps are as you get closer to the top. In fact, it felt as though the steps were literally constructed on a gradient of 80-90 degrees! And of course, as luck would have it, they were endless. Unfortunately I do not have a decent image of these steps as I was too busy huffing and puffing loud enough to blow my house down in Kennedy Town from there.
But I managed to climb up without too much trouble and all in all, I'm very proud of myself. I did not think I could do it with the recent heart problems I've had, but all I needed was some sugar and water when I got up at the top summit before I was ready to head back down to join the dead fish.
Question of the day: Why do they cover the dried fishes' heads with paper?
The walk around the island started innocently enough, with flat terrain for most of the northern part of the island and very slight gradient slopes heading down towards the southern farms. But then I reached Finger Hill, the highest point on Peng Chau.From the first glance, the hill looks innocent enough, being no more than 95 meters in height - a quick 30 minute climb, one should say...but that is before you look at how steep the slopes are and worse - how horribly constructed the steep steps are as you get closer to the top. In fact, it felt as though the steps were literally constructed on a gradient of 80-90 degrees! And of course, as luck would have it, they were endless. Unfortunately I do not have a decent image of these steps as I was too busy huffing and puffing loud enough to blow my house down in Kennedy Town from there.
But I managed to climb up without too much trouble and all in all, I'm very proud of myself. I did not think I could do it with the recent heart problems I've had, but all I needed was some sugar and water when I got up at the top summit before I was ready to head back down to join the dead fish.Question of the day: Why do they cover the dried fishes' heads with paper?
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It is a tradition and a wisdom of the fisherman. They wrap up the head which includes the opercular, fish eyes, fish mouth to prevent insects, espcially flies, to lay eggs over these parts. When they lay eggs, the eggs will grow up as maggots and eat up the parts. It will become rotten once the maggots eat them all and couldnt sell them. As a chinese tradition and belief, completion of one thing symbolises an intregrity of life.
ReplyDeleteAs for the drying process, good ham-yu should be put in a highland (that's why you have to climb up so high in Peng Chau) to take advantage of winds from all direction. Also, it is favourable to dry up in autumn for moderate sunshine, say in September or October.
I hope I've answered your question!
awesome. thanks for the answer to the fish head question. as for the drying process, in peng chau, all of the dried fish were at the lowlands... there were nothing but steps up on the hill. and understandably so. most of the population of the island is made up of elderly people - i can't imagine them climbing that horrible path everyday lol
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome. =) haha I cited the information from chef in Shenzhen lol maybe cultural difference over the making process.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's not much young population over there. Maybe you can consider moving there if you enjoy a laid-back life haha
ew gross no way. lol I hate the ferry ride to peng chau and I'd die of boredom cos hardly anyone speaks English...heck many people i ran across today were speaking in hakka dialects rather than Cantonese or Mandarin! lamma would be a better option
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