I mentioned last week that Holly and I had decided to make a day out of visiting Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. It takes a while to get out there via public transportation (but fairly easy to do, thanks to this guide we found) and so we figured we might as well see what there is to see while we were there!
The big attraction (no pun intended) to Lantau Island is of course the Tian Tan Buddha, known locally as the “Big Buddha”, or “Giant Buddha”… frankly, both work… it’s HUGE! The statue, which was completed in 1993, measures 112 feet tall and weighs 280 tons! While 112 feet is tall, in and of itself, it feels even bigger because the statue sits on top of a hill, which requires you to climb 268 stairs to get up to it. Like a lot of statues of Buddha, this one features some very beautiful craftsmanship, but to me, the setting around the statue were what made this place so neat. Hong Kong itself is very green and lush, and Lantau Island seems especially so!
After doing some searching around the area we managed to find a good vantage point of the statue AND the surrounding area. There is actually a trail that roughly follows beneath the cable car that you can ride (and you should, its AMAZING) back to the main ferry terminal, and is a popular hike among locals as you can walk one way, and ride the cable car in the other. About a half-mile up the trail is a little offshoot trail that scrambles up a hill and offers this view. It’s perfect around sunset!
–Dan Thompson