Dong’ao Island Resort by Club Med boasts stunning views and excellent service.

leisure on Wai Lingding

Our first impression of Wai Lingding Island was its luxuriant, yet small, greenery. Seagulls lazily circled the sky and people strolled at a leisurely pace. This was an island in slow motion.

The island at the mouth of the Pearl River is not yet a famous tourist site for fun seekers from the cities so it has maintained much of its originality. It’s an ideal destination for a weekend getaway to pamper yourself.

There are several bicycle rental stations on the island and it takes less than an hour to tour the island on two wheels, an activity popular with tourists.

My favorite part of the cycling route was what people call "the path for couples", a waterfront mountain road near Lingding Peak, the highest peak in the middle of the island. People can enjoy an amazing ocean view on the road with rocks and small beaches.

Climbing up the 311-meter-high Lingding Peak is a must-do and it takes roughly an hour. Among the more than 140 islands in Zhuhai, this is the only spot that will give you a view of the whole of Hong Kong.

At the top of the mountain, the rocks that naturally resemble various animals are widely appreciated by visitors. The park is named Shijing, or literally, the beauty of rocks.

If you go

There are three ferries from Zhuhai’s Xiangzhou port to Wai Lingding Island every day, leaving at 8:40 am, 9:50 am and 2:20 pm. The voyage takes nearly two hours and costs 67 yuan for a ticket.