December 13, 2025 — 5:00am
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Got itThis article is part of Traveller’s guide to luxury cruising. See all stories.
Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour is a showstopper, its deep waters alive with motorboats, water taxis and sightseeing cruisers, while its promenade buzzes with dining and cultural attractions.
“Tell me again why we’re not sticking around?” asks my husband, who has clearly abdicated all trip planning responsibility to me.
“Synchronised Revolution” – an installation at Hong Kong’s secret gallery.Dominic Johnson-Hill
It’s the first full day of our 15-day cruise, and given we have visited Hong Kong before, the plan (my plan) is to spend our shore day exploring beyond the city. I’d heard about a hidden, open-air gallery – and I’m keen to find it.
Being a mid-sized cruise ship, Viking Venus is docked right amid the action near the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier, rather than Kai Tak terminal, where the large ships must go. That’s the cruise jackpot you want to win.
In minutes, we’ve tapped on at the turnstile ($HK5/$1), found a spot on the upper deck and are bouncing across the harbour for the 10-minute ferry crossing from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. From here it’s a 60-minute ferry ride to Lantau Island ($HK28.60/$5.55) and a short stroll to Silver Mine Bay Beach.
The water looks tempting, but I’m here in search of birds, not beaches. Not just any avians, but a flock of murals painted on abandoned buildings scattered throughout Wang Tong village. A pin on Google maps is my only clue.
Birdlife at Wang Tong art walk.Dominic Johnson-Hill
We plunge headfirst into the scrub behind the beach, where overgrown pathways twist between towering trees with tangled vines hanging like pythons. Whitewashed buildings, once someone’s pride and joy, lie derelict, now smothered in moss, windows missing, roofs long gone. There’s vegetation running riot and the silence broken only by bird song.
We spot a yellow-browed warbler painted on the ruins of a farmhouse, its mustard feathers blending with the greenery. Further along we come face-to-beak with a red-billed blue magpie, while a white-throated kingfisher looks down from his perch on a pipe near a river.
The Flock Project is a collaboration between Dominic Johnson-Hill, a locally based mix-media artist (@plastered8) and Rob Aspire (@aspireartwork), a British street artist who specialises in bird murals. These are “paintings with a purpose”, designed to reflect Lantau’s rich biodiversity, while raising awareness about conservation.
I’d contacted Johnson-Hill through social media, who told me the art walk started randomly in 2020. “A friend played a trick on me by placing a discarded painting he’d found in a local garbage bin outside my house” he said. “We collected more and started to decorate the whole alleyway between an abandoned house and an old pigsty.”
The art walk.
Johnson-Hill began printing his own artworks and placing pop art and sculptures around the abandoned buildings. “I usually stick up a big collection every four months,” he said. “We have a new flock of birds coming towards the end of this year.”
A Wang Tong Art Walk sign, created out of colourful wooden children’s blocks, marks the entrance. The first clue that this is no ordinary gallery comes from Plastered 8’s Monster Control series; a swimmer with a rifle in her arms – Synchronised Revolution – confirms it.
There’s a creepy statue of a soldier laughing, a green-haired woman smoking a cigarette, and posters about the world of Chinese entertainment TV. QR codes provide information about some installations, others have me scratching my head.
Plastered 8’s Monster Control series.Dominic Johnson-Hill
Exiting the art walk, we spend an easy hour wandering the settled part of the village. There are no roads or cars, just a tangle of narrow pathways that could belong to another century. We cross canals by small footbridges and wave to people tending vegetable gardens or peddling past in trishaws.
We may not have visited any glitzy shopping malls or museums, but for less than $10 we’ve discovered Hong Kong’s most secret gallery.
The details
Mid-sized Viking Venus can go where larger ships can’t.
Cruise
Viking Cruise’s 15-day Far Eastern Horizons cruise from Hong Kong to Tokyo (or reverse) is priced from $16,195 a person, based on double occupancy; a companion flies free up to $2500 a booking. All meals, beer, wine and soft drinks with onboard lunch and dinner, one shore excursion in every port of call, Wi-Fi, gratuities and speciality dining are included. See viking.com
Art
Wang Tong Art Walk is open to the public for free, year-round. At night the art walk comes alive with solar-powered lighting. See Instagram @wangtongart
Fly
Qantas flies daily direct from Sydney and Melbourne to Hong Kong. See qantas.com
More
discoverhongkong.com
The writer was a guest of Viking Cruises.
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Kerry van der Jagt is a Sydney-based freelance writer with expertise in Australia’s Indigenous cultures, sustainable travel and wildlife conservation, and a descendant of the Awabakal people of the mid-north coast of NSW.Traveller GuidesFrom our partners