Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Sorry but this is the short version of our day in Hong Kong.  I have written this blog twice, and because of computer glitches lost the blog both times.

We arrived in Hong Kong in late afternoon to return to the ship.  Smog was evident but not bad at all.  We could still see the mountains and tops of sky scrapers.

At night we went up on deck to watch the Hong Kong light show over the harbor, then called it an early night.

Our tour in Hong Kong was to its largest outlying island Lantau.  This island is used as a greenspace recreational area.

The first stop was the Tsing Ma Bridge, the longest road and rail suspension bridge in the world, linking Lantau to Kowloon penninsula.

We then went to Tai O fishing village, the center of Hong Kongs saltpand industry for 100 years.

We then went to the Po Lin (Precious Lotus) Monastery to view the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world.  I believe they said it was over 30 meters high. We were unable to go into or see the monastery because it was covered being renovated.  We enjoyed a great vegetarian lunch there. 

At the base if the Buddha were serveral other beautiful statues with offerings.

There were over 300 steps to get to the top of the Buddha.  As weere were running a bit late we could not climb them and got a ride to the top instead.

At the base of the Buddha was the Ngong Ping themed village with shops, eateries and cultural exibits.  Ty got some ice cream which included  gummy fruit and pearled juice balls.

We then took a 25min long cable car ride back down the mountain to our bus in Tung Chung.  Parts were very steep.

We enjoyed our day in Hong Kong.  I would have like to see the city part as well, but after so many days of hustle and bustle in the big cities of China, this was a nice alternative.