Tian Tan Buddha

Sunday we ventured to Lantau Island, home of Hong Kong Disneyland, the international airport, and Big Buddha. We came for the latter, and it was my first time on the island since our arrival mid-August. It is situated right near the Po Lin monastery. Some budding entrepreneur has made a fortune off the religious statue, creating a cable car system to take tourists up the mountain and charging high prices. We went for the “Crystal Cabin”, the glass bottomed one, so you could look at your feet and see the Tung Chung bay, South China Sea, and the mountains beneath you.

As you head up the incline, the silhouette of Big Buddha stands out against the mountain range. The Buddha is 110 ft tall and weighs 250 metric tons. It was overcast and threatening rain, but I am so glad we picked that day to go because it cleared up to be one of the prettiest days we’ve had yet. The clouds broke and we saw the first true blue sky we have seen in over three months. We enjoyed the blue skies and white clouds, and once the sun set were able to actually see a couple of stars! (Too bad we missed the Leonid meteor shower though!) Since Lantau is removed from the city center, the smog and air pollution is not noticeable.

We got off at the top, where that same smart business guy that owns Ngong Ping Cable Car has erected a quaint Chinese style village in the midst of the mountains and natural parks. There were plenty of places for visitors to spend their money—a European deli, noodle café, tea house, and souvenier shops, but Tripp and I had another destination planned. First we stopped for a caffeine jolt at Starbucks (of course there was one)! They were playing Christmas carols and serving gingerbread cookies and holiday drinks. It got the holiday season started for me and made me even more excited about seeing everyone back home in a five weeks!

We moved ahead to the Po Lin monastery. The temples and statues are ornate and colorful. Intense smoke filled the courtyard air, because Buddhist visitors would throw burning sticks of incense into these urns that look like water wells, in memory of loved ones. It was very cultural and eye-opening to watch.

The monks run a vegetarian restaurant I had been anxious to try. I heard they grow the veggies on site themselves, so you get to eat the fruits of their labor. Don’t know if this rumour holds any merit. Sunday’s meal consisted of Chinese red tea, potato soup, a pot of steamed rice, beancurd and veggie mix, and a tofu & green pea dish, which was my favorite. The Buddhist symbol seen everywhere looks identical to the swastika Nazi Germany used, so it was weird dining in a place decorated with it. Overall the flavors were foreign to the two of us, and we were glad to donate the price of the ticket to the monastery but not too crazy about the lunch.

After touring the grounds and stopping to pose in pictures with monks, we climbed 268steps to reach the Buddha. I thought it was an ancient statue built long ago, but it actually was only completed in 1993. It is a massive statue, and was really cool to see in person. The view from the back of the Buddha overlooking the sea is incredible from that height, as well.

Afterwards we trekked on over to the Wisdom Path, which was unbelivably gorgeous as the sun set. After waiting ages in the line, we cablecar-ed it down the mountain and ate Indian curry and naan for dinner. Wish I could describe the whole thing better. Fantastic day.