Lantau Island, Hong Kong

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Going from Lantau Island to Hong Kong, you can either take the MTR or a taxi. The former will also use the bridge, though the scenery will not be that amazing as the train will go pass many beams and wires and thus, the scenery is all lost through these distractions.

All of 2 km long, the Tsing Ma bridgebuilt in 1997 is the world's longest span suspension bridge and I had the privilege to be on top of it. The bridge has six lanes and it was magnificant! I'd whipped out my phone camera and took shot after shot after shot. And then I realised that I was still on the bridge.

It was that long!

Other than admiring the smooth flowing traffic, travelling on this bridge also accord visitors with a wonderful view of the various islands and lovely sea.

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Lantau Island is not all about the airport and Disneyland. The island provides for magnificant view while running.

I took a step out of the hotel's back gate and was greeted by a fishing trawler heading out towards sea. It proved to be a lovely setting for me and that motivated me to sprint against the trawler. The result was clear - I lost.

Still, it brought me to the next interesting site - a lighthouse that was situated just outside the Disneyland Hotel. Anglers used that area to catch fishes. All these scenes made it a very interesting experience for me.

The giant bronze Buddha at the Po Lin Monastery is a sight to be seen! The monastery has a hostel that you can call and make reservations for. It's a nice place to hang out at for a few days. Here is an excerpt from my travel journal about my experiences there:

On the road to Po Lin, I got off the bus at the foot of the mountain leading up to the monastery and walked. It was a lovely walk up the mountain! Absolutely breathtaking. Words won't do the experience justice, you'll have to see the pictures. As I walked up, I had an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness come over me, as well as wonder at the beauty of the surrounding hills and valleys. At one point I stopped to watch the sunset, which was happening behind a hill from my vantage point, and it was so cool... the sky was pink and orange and soft, with a brilliant crystal clear blue above, and a few fingers of gold were shooting up from behind the hill. It was amazing! Venus was low and bright in the sky above the hill. I spent a moment taking in the awesomeness of that view!

Finally, after about an hour's walk, I arrived at the monastery. Po Lin is home to a giant bronze Buddha, the largest anywhere in China. As I walked past it high on the hill, I could see its silhouette. I could hear bullfrogs awming loudly, and the wind kicked up and made the yellow and red flags on either side of the path come alive. I love arriving at a place at twilight! Everything strangely seems brighter when the details are left to the imagination.

I walked along the little path in the woods to my hostel and checked in, and made friends with a few travelers.

Asiaworld Arena is located at Lautau Island, near HK International Airport. As its not near the centre, so better stay in HK Island or Kowloon side hotels.

There is MTR station(Airport Express Line) at Asiaworld Arena. Take MTR to Tsing Yi Station or Kowloon Station or Hong Kong Station, then transit Airport Express Line to there.

can check price from the following:
http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/oticketing/intro.html

May be find hotels locate in Wanchai.
You can select the hotel in the district, then find some hotels information:
http://www.hotelhk.com/index_eng.php

Opened in mid-September 2006, the new cable car Ngong Ping 360 is definitely a MUST-Do activity for all travelers to Hong Kong.

The ride
The ride starts at Tung Chung, a new town with around 250,000 inhabitants. It lies on Lantau Island's northern shore and is the end of the Tung Chung-MTR-Line (dark yellow). The ride from Hong Kong Station to Tung Chung takes about 30 minutes.

The cable car terminus is a mere 2 minutes walk from Exit B of Tung Chung station.
The 5.7 km-ride up to Ngong Ping takes about 20 to 25 minutes (!) and offers stunning views across Western Lantau and Check Lap Kok airport.

Ngong Ping Village
Visitors will arrive in the newly constructed Ngong Ping village, which houses several restaurants, souvenir shops but also two new tourist attractions:

a) Walking with Buddha (multimedia attraction allowing guests to follow the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the man who became Buddha)
b) Monkey's Tale Theatre (a computer generated animation, combined with special effects and surround sound, that's supposed to provide an amusing story for young and old)

Costs
There are several packages existing, including one or two of the attractions within Ngong Ping Village. I will simply show the rates for the cable car only. For more details on the packages, please check out the below website.

One-way trip: 58.- HKD (Peak season: 68.- HKD)
Return journey: 88.-HKD (Peak season: 98.-HKD)

Please check the below website for the exact dates of the peak season.

Impressions
For more impressions on this new must-see attraction, please check out my new Travelogue - Ngong Ping 360.

I recommend to visit Ngong Ping 360 on a weekday as weekends tend to be rather crowded and you might need to queue for up to an hour!!!

!! Re-opened !!

Ngong Ping 360 was re-opened on December 31, 2007 after its six-months suspension of service. Enjoy!!!

Tai O is located on Lantau's western shore and used to be called the "The Venice of Hong Kong', mainly due to its stilt houses.
Once being a tiny fishing village, it developed into a tiny fishing-tourist destination with street vendors lining up along your path. However, compared to other places, Tai O is not a main tourist spot and its clean air and scenery are still worth a visit off the beaten path.
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How to get there?
Same as for the Big Buddha, take the ferry from Central to Sivermine Bay (Mui Wo) on Lantau's East and get onto the connecting bus towards 'Tai O'. The trip from Mui Wo takes about 45 minutes.

We were excited to get out of Hong Kong proper and pay a visit to Lantau Island and the Giant Buhdda, but after what seemed like a long journey from Hong Kong, we were a bit disappointed to find out that the Buddha has no historical significance what so ever.

The Giant Buddha, a majestic figure of the seated Buddha (or Tian Tan) is 34 metres high, was cast in China and took 10 years to complete. Weighing 220 tonnes, it was unveiled in 1993 amid deep religious ceremonies".

You can climb the steps to the top of the Buddha where you will be rewarded with a majestic view of the mountains. Inside Buddha is a smallish musuem, but the best part is definitely the outside. We arrived on a pretty cold windy day and as we were circuling the Lotus where Buddha is seated, we were amazed to see the fog rolling in.

Included in the price of the museum is a "cafeteria like" meal. We were treated to a selection of vegetarian goodies which came as a nice surprise.

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Many people are so caught up with the shopping that they leave out lau tau island. Personally i love it, the scenory was beautiful, at the time i went it was sunny. So the pictures taken were beautiful. To get there , you might have to rtake a MTR, after that take a bus or ferry or cable car.

I personally would recommend to you to take cable cars there and return by ferry. Beautiful scenory.

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Many people are so caught up with the shopping that they leave out lau tau island. Personally i love it, the scenory was beautiful, at the time i went it was sunny. So the pictures taken were beautiful. To get there , you might have to rtake a MTR, after that take a bus or ferry or cable car.

I personally would recommend to you to take cable cars there and return by ferry. Beautiful scenory.

Lantau is Hong Kong's biggest island and offers much more than its Big Buddha.
It has a very attractive mountain scenery (the highest mountain is Lantau Peak at 934m) and an impressive rocky coastline with some very nice beaches and it is also ideal for hiking tours.
There is the tiny village of Tai O in the West (for details check out the below tip) and Mui Wo in the East.
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How to get there?
a) Take a ferry from Central (HK Island). The trip takes about an hour (ordinary ferry) or some 35 minutes by fast ferry.
Ferries usually arrive at Sivermine Bay (Mui Wo) on Lantau's East shore. From there, you can already see various buses waiting to bring people to further destinations all around the island.
Take the bus heading for Ngong Ping, i.e. the Po Lin Monastery (you can pay by Octopus card). The ride takes about 45 minutes and is, frankly speaking, not very comfortable... but on the good side, you can see a lot of Lantau Island during the ride.

b) Take the MTR (subway) from wherever you're staying to Tung Chung on Lantau Island.
From Tung Chung, you can take the new cable car (Ngong Ping 360 - see next tip for details) and enjoy a stunning 25-minute-ride (!) with awesome views across Lantau and the airport.

Po Lin Monastery is located at 450 meters altitude. It was opened in 1970 and the main attraction is the 34m high giant Buddha statue, unveiled in 1993. It weighs 220 tons and is said to be the biggest Buddha statue in the world (quite believable). You have to climb a lot of stairs to reach the platform but it is worth the effort because you enjoy a wonderful view across Lantau and its surroundings.
If you prefer a little lunch, the monks of Po Lin successfully operate a vegetarian restaurant that serves excellent food at very moderate prices.

Thanks to the new cable car, the trip can be done within half-a-day. However, it might be more relaxing to plan for the whole day and make a side-trip to Tai O (see below tip for details).