LAMMA ISLAND - Situated at the southwest of Hong Kong Island, it has a total area of 13.55 square kilometers and an estimated population of 6,000. There are regular ferry services to Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan from the Outlying Islands Ferry Pier No. 4 in Central on Hong Kong Island, as well as to Yung Shue Wan via Pak Kok from a pier in Aberdeen near the fish market. It takes about 20 minutes by fast ferry, and 35 minutes by regular ferry, to get between Yung Shue Wan to Central.

Lamma is, in contrast to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, peaceful and tranquil, with relatively natural scenery. Buildings higher than three storeys are prohibited and there are no roads and hence, no automobiles, but diminutive fire trucks and ambulances, as well as village vehicles are around to serve the community's transport needs. Lamma provides an alternative to the hectic life in the city. Property values and rental costs are also very cheap compared with those of central Hong Kong. Partly in consequence, there is a significant expatriate community on Lamma Island. It is also popular with younger people and a haven for artists. The different communities live together quite peacefully and successfully.

Lamma was named after the shape of the island which looks like the limb of a tree, or the letter Y (corresponding to the Chinese character of "a"), and Namm (n is allophone of l) means "south". The northern village is called Yung Shue Wan (Banyan Tree Bay) and the eastern village Sok Kwu Wan. The southern part of Lamma Island has minimal population. Sham Wan, an important breeding site for sea turtles, is located there. This bay is also the site of an important Bronze Age settlement which was unearthed by archaeologists in the 1970s. It yielded evidence of people living on Lamma during the "Middle Neolithic" phase (approximately 3800-3000 BC).

In fact, Pok Liu is the original name of the island. The island shapes like two Y in opposite direction. The north Y is Pak A (??) and south Y is Nam A (??). When British first came to the island, it was mistakenly using the degenerated pronunciation of Nam A, i.e. Lamma as the name of the island. The Chinese names of East Lamma Channel (?????) and West Lamma Channel (?????) are still using Pok Liu is instead of Nam A.

Chow Yun-Fat, a well-known actor, grew up on the island in the village of Tung O.

Northern part

Yung Shue Wan (Banyan Bay) is the most populated area on Lamma Island. Several decades ago, it was the center of the plastics industry. The factories have now been replaced by seafood restaurants, pubs, grocery stores and shops which sell oriental and Indian-style handicrafts, environmentally friendly products, clothing, homewear and art. The area has become popular among young people and expatriates owing to the low rent and peaceful setting.

Hong Kong Electric's power station is located at a 0.5 km² site at Po Lo Tsui, to the immediate south of Yung Shue Wan. With its distinctive three tall chimney stacks, the power station is visible from the surrounding islands. Lamma Power Station is a modern coal burning plant and has supplied virtually all the power for Hong Kong Island, Ap Lei Chau and Lamma Island since 1990.

Eastern part

The big street of Sok Kwu Wan consists mainly of seafood restaurants. Sok Kwu Wan has the largest fish farming site in Hong Kong. Tourists can barbecue and fish at Lo Shing Beach which is ten minutes' walk from the village. The trail between Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, surrounded by grassland, offers a picturesque walk. From there, one can see the coastline of the island. It takes roughly an hour to walk through the trail. Walkers may notice a few 'caves' on the trail near Sok Kwu Wan. These are caves dug out by the Japanese during the war using native slave labour to hide their kamikaze boats. The caves never came into use by the time the Japanese surrendered, and the caves have been left to degrade and are being reclaimed by nature.

Southern part

Sham Wan is one of the five most important archaeological sites in Hong Kong. According to the archaelogical findings, human settlement on the northern and eastern part of Lamma Island could be traced back to around 1600 BC, the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

It is also a place for Green Sea Turtles, the only species of turtle that breeds in Hong Kong, to lay eggs. The endangered green turtles are a special group of marine organisms with distinctive navigation behaviour between their nesting, breeding, development and reproduction sites. As Sham Wan is the only existing nesting site for them in Hong Kong, every year there is a period of restricted access to it from June 1 to October 31 to allow the turtles to breed. The breeding site is about 5,100 m² large.