Sunday at Tung Cheung and Ngong Ping

On Sunday, we met Professors Vaz and Demetry and headed off to Lantau Island. We took the MTR all the way to the end to an area called Tung Cheung. Tung Cheung is the home to the new airport and Hong Kong and also happens to be the focus area of one of the projects that WPI students are working on. The area is quite small but very densely populated. After emerging from the MTR station, we were caught in the shadows of enormous apartment buildings that seemed to stretch on forever. Most of the group chose to hike up the mountains from Tung Cheung to Ngong Ping, however my roommate was under the weather so I elected to ride the cable car up with her. Knowing that it would take the group several hours, we first hit the outlet malls in Tung Cheung before getting on the cable car. The outlet mall seemed to stretch on forever and had stores for anything and everything. Definitely a true shoppers dream. Not being a huge shopper myself, I mostly browsed and people watched.

After about an hour at the outlets, we headed to the cable car. The ride for one-way up the mountain was about $88 HKD and we were in cars that allowed us to see 360 degrees around as we ascended into the mountains. The trip probably took about half an hour but had amazing views. We were able to look out towards Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula and also see the airport. I was even able to see several planes take off, which is something I have never experienced from the air.

After arriving up at Ngong Ping, we has some lunch. Fatima (my roommate) decided on Subway because she knew the food and thought that it would be best for her slightly uneasy stomach. After lunch, we explored the little "village-like" area and did some souvenir shopping. After crossing under some decorative arches, we headed towards the Tian Tan Buddha, or the Big Buddha. The Big Buddha stands 112 feet tall and can be seen from a distance. It is the center for Buddhism in Hong Kong. When we climbed the stairs to get to the Buddha, it was really cool to witness Buddhists who had come to the Buddha for spiritual or religious reasons. Some were bowing and praying at the Buddha, while others were chanting or singing quietly to themselves. Around the Buddha were 6 smaller statues, offering gifts to the Buddha.

On our way from the village to the Buddha, we passed statues that represented the different animals of the Chinese calendar (horse, dragon, snake, etc.). In this area, there were lots of dogs that lived at the nearby monastery (they were basically strays who took shelter by the buildings) and they were very friendly and adorable. We also saw a cow, a calf and a bull which was very interesting.

After climbing down from the Buddha, we went to the Po Lin Monastery. Unfortunately, it was under construction while we were visiting so most of the buildings and surrounding area was blocked off by scaffolding and other construction-ish things. The monastery was quite beautiful. Due to the construction, it was also hard to tell what was closed and what was open, etc. so we didn't really explore much. Just looked from the outside and went into the first courtyard.

Afterwards, we met up with a few other students and took a very windy bus ride back to Tung Cheung. After the MTR ride, we all went home and slept!

Sign showing the different things to see at Ngong Ping.

 Fatima and I at the flags at the bottom of the Big Buddha

 MONK!!! At the Po Lin Monastery

Cool golden Buddha statue!

 Sign at the Monastery. Hope it doesn't say no pictures!

 Me at the entrance to the monastery!

 Side view of the Big Buddha from the little village

 Sign for the village

 stray dogs

 random cow

 Fatima and I on the way to the Big Buddha!

 bottom of the steps to the Big Buddha

 Made it to the top!

 side view, right next to his pedestal

 statue offering a gift to the Buddha

 Me in a fancy throne with a cool backdrop

 Fatima and I at the entrance to the village

 We can finally see the Big Buddha from the cable car!!!

 See all those high rises? Those are all apartment buildings at Tung Cheung!

 Me in the cable car with Tung Chung in the background

 Airport! Cathay Pacific is the airline that I flew on