{"id":485,"date":"2018-11-24T17:15:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T17:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/?p=485"},"modified":"2018-11-25T15:51:26","modified_gmt":"2018-11-25T15:51:26","slug":"hong-kong-lantau-buddha-and-tai-o-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/2018\/11\/24\/hong-kong-lantau-buddha-and-tai-o-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong: Lantau Buddha and Tai O (Part I)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good day, Everyone.  Hope you all had a rewarding Black Friday, however you choose to define rewarding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today was the final full day pre-adoption fun, and it was a busy day again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Mom had arranged a guided tour for us through a local Hong Kong tour guide service.   Our guide\u2019s name was Nadia and she met us in our lobby promptly at 8 AM, right after our breakfast. We took the MTR trains again, making our way to Tung Chung, on Lantau Island.  She described the Tung Chung community as a group of estates, made up of various high rises, located near the HK Airport  For example, Nadia lived in Tung Chung and her estate had 13 buildings and housed 21,000 people!  And that was just HER estate – there were several others too, some even larger.  The Tung Chung community was pretty much self contained, with all of the shopping and support services needs right on site.  (The Tung Chung FB Group has 14,000 + members.) There is also a large outlet mall on site, which is a draw for many in HK and the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tung Chung is also the starting point for the Cable Car ride to the Lantau Buddha. Nadia was on top of things for us from the start, arranging for priority access as a tour group, since she was certified and licensed as a guide.  She quickly snagged our tickets and before too long, we were loading into our cable car. During our brief wait in line, Nadia schooled us on some of the history of Hong Kong, and of the Monastery we would be visiting.  She told us that since the Macau to HK bridge\/Tunnel had opened, tourist traffic at the Lantau Buddha has increased dramatically. Since we\u2019d arranged for our early start, we were able to beat much of the crowds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom wasn\u2019t totally excited with the heights of some of the cable car spans, but she was fine after she got adjusted.  The ride provided extraordinary views of the surrounding mountains, the South China Sea, and the airport as we climbed toward the Big Buddha.  The air was clear, and the ride was smooth.  The car was large enough so that we could move about comfortably to get tons of photos without swaying  too much.  The 5.7 km trip takes about 25 minutes, and terminates at Ngong Ping Village, at the base of the Big Buddha. We saw many hikers making the journey on the hiking trail far below.  Maybe next time…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Awaiting our Cable Car<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The start of the climb.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Shortly after rolling out of the station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nadia, our vary capable and generous tour guide!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mom, feeling more comfortable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Oakie once again making an appearance as we checked out HK Airport.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some of the steps on the hiking trail – Nadia said it was a 3 + hour hike.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A great view of the new HK – Macau bridge Tunnel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once we rolled into the Ngong Ping station, and we exited the Cable Car, it was time for the climb to the Big Buddha. We walked through the Ngong Ping Village that housed many small shops and a few restaurants to the base of the steps leading to the Buddha.  Just before we made the climb, we passed a gallery of 12 statues, paying tribute to the 12 Animals of the Chinese zodiac.  Nadia again took time to describ the story of each of the animals and how they came to have the significance they do. It was uncanny how close the personalities in our family synced with the characteristics of the animals representing our birth years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crossing the bridge where we saw 8 drums, each associated with an element of life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tourists much?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Orange Tree, signifying the place where the Buddha reached Enlightenment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019ll just leave this right here for the moment…no explanation is necessary…YET.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The view from the Village.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The gate at the start of the Chinese Zodiac statue gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dylan… Year of the Dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ashley and Ryan…  Year of the Ox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mom…  Year of the Snake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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UC…  Year of the Rat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kyle…  Year of the Rooster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dad…  Year of the Dragon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AM…  Year of the Rabbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Look at all those steps…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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UC and AM, before the climb!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Oakie and Tyler made it – no problem!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Almost there…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At the Base – Made it!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everyone made the trek UP the 268 steps to the top (Kyle ran to the top!), where we were rewarded with tremendous views in every direction.  There was a large group of Pilgrims (in the Yellow Shirts), who chanted and prayed all the way up the steps (stopping every 4-5 steps), and then joined a procession of Monks who chanted and prayed during their slow prayer march around the base of the Buddha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The group of Monks and Pilgrims we saw prying on the way up, and who chanted and prayed as they walked around the base of the Buddha.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The South China Sea in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Monks and Pilgrims in prayer and meditation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of the several statues making offerings to the Buddha.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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More of the Offerings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Monastery is in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looking in the direction of Macau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After the visit to the Big Buddha.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next stop was just a short walk away at the Monastery, where we visited the three temples.  We picked up some incense sticks and made our wishes, lit the Incense and planted them for the Buddha to hear our wishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A bunch of Pyromaniacs with incense sticks and hearts full of wishes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Light \u2018em up!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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No Forearm burns today!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yep, we made it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, remember that picture of the sign about the Cows, from a few moments ago… \u00a0One actually wandered by in the plaza as we were heading out!!! \u00a0Don\u2019t worry, we didn\u2019t feed it or try to ride it! \u00a0Thank goodness we saw that sign!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we headed out from the Lantau Big Buddha, we (with Nadia\u2019s help) caught a bus and made our way to Tai o, a remote fishing village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… To be Continued…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good day, Everyone.  Hope you all had a rewarding Black Friday, however you choose to define rewarding! Today was the final full day pre-adoption fun, and it was a busy day again!  Mom had arranged a guided tour for us through a local Hong Kong tour guide service.   Our guide\u2019s name was Nadia and… Read more Hong Kong: Lantau Buddha and Tai O (Part I)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":609,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pandapartyof8.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}