Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Trip: Hong Kong (1) - Tian Tan Buddha

Went to Lantau Island to see the Tian Tan Buddha (天坛大佛), a large seated bronze statue of Buddha, located on the Ngong Ping Plateau. To get there, we took the MTR to Tung Chung station & rode the Ngong Ping Cable Car up the mountains. The price for an adult round trip ticket is HK$96.

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This is the special 360° cable car - the base of the cabin is glass-panelled which means you not only can look out sideways from the cabin but also downwards, thus offering a 360° view of the outside scenery. Perhaps this is not so suitable for the faint-hearted.
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It was a cloudy day, windy & drizzling, so the ride up was rather rocky. The cable car we rode in was like swaying left & right and my worried niece was asking if we would actually hit against this tower as we passed by it. Er, no one dared to answer her question :)
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Ngong Ping Village - there are many restaurants & gift shops along this street.
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Of course, we could not resist stopping by at "Honeymoon Dessert" for their yummy desserts. I had the mango-beancurd dessert - very nice, the beancurd's very tender & smooth. Great stuff!
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After desserts, we continued on our walk towards the Tian Tan Buddha statue. Here, you can see the Buddha statue in a distance, buried in the clouds.
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We gotta climb this long flight of stairs to have a closer look at the Buddha statue. Huff puff...
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As it was a cloudy day, this is the only clear photo I took of the statue just when the clouds happened to disperse for a minute. Immediately after taking this photo, the statue was once again clouded over...
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Next, we proceeded to have our vegetarian lunch at the Po Lin Monastery, which surprisingly turned out to be quite delicious. Price: HK$100 per person.

Psst...Those interested in shopping may want to visit the mall located just next to the Tung Chung MTR station. They have many branded goods factory outlets there & you can find some nice stuff at discounted prices. :)

2 comments:

  1. If my menory holds true, that cable car collapsed a couple of years back! Next time put up your finger to test the wind before riding it. Always wanted to visit the place. Next time.....

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  2. Yikes, if I had known about the tragedy, I would not have ridden in it on that windy day! Phew! Thank goodness we escaped unscathed. =)

    But I must say it was a really scenic ride. We could even see the airport from the cable car. Do go there some time, you'll like it. :)

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