Day 7 (29/6) - Hong Kong: Lantau - Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Sutra (Part 1)
In MTR trains they had a map of the network which lights up to show you what stop you're at, which direction you're going and which side of the train to exit from. Since the territory is also at least nominally trilingual, you get this sexy British accent making announcements and announcing stop names.
Hong Kong was cooler and/or less humid than Shanghai. It must be the pollution and cloud cover.
Communist countries seem good at synchronised swimming. Must be all the sacrifice and mindlessness.
This day we went to Lantau island. Unfortunately the Ngong Ping 360 (cablecar) was out of commission due to a car falling off the rope a few weeks before so we had to take a bus. There was lots of fog and we were driving through clouds at many points up narrow and sometimes steep mountain roads. Perhaps due to this, the drive up to the Buddha took an hour. Once again, we split up.
Giant Buddha Statue
No wine or meat in the area around and leading up to the Buddha
Blackmail - instead of charging an admission fee to enter the Buddha they make you buy a meal/snack ticket.
Gotta love the view
Inside the Buddha itself there were statues and relics but I decided to pass, especially since I didn't want a 'meal' or 'snack'.
Gateway to Po Lin monastery
"All emperors in Qing Dynasty believed in Buddhism, especially the Tibetan Buddhism. From the historical materials that recorded the conferment of Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama and from many policies made by Qing government (sic), we can clearly see that Tibetan Buddhism was greatly developed and popularized in China then, with a emphasis on Tibet and Mongolia, and that Tibet's on (sic) inseparable part of China all long (sic)."
I smell a rat. This is probably PRC propaganda. Using this logic India is part of China also.
Statues in Po Lin hall
Of all the godforsaken Hosteling International hostels, this must be one of the worst. After a 1 hour bus journey you still need to take MTR for 30 (?) minutes to get to town.
Path to Wisdom Sutra and commercialisation
Phoenix Gateway
The Wisdom Sutra was some Buddhist sutra inscribed on giant wooden poles.
I then took the bus for the coast, for Tai-O fishing village.