After spending a couple of weeks in Japan and Okinawa, we hopped over to Hong Kong to play for 10 days until our teaching program started in China! You might have seen my post about Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong, which was another fun getaway from the big city vibes of Hong Kong Island. Today we’re talking about one of the two main islands in HK: Lantau Island.
Tian Tan Buddha Statue on Lantau Island
We’ll start with one of the most famous things to do in Hong Kong; the Tian Tan Buddha AKA one of the largest Buddha statues in the world! We planned this one for the coldest (well, “cold” for HK) and rainiest days because it’s usually a jam-packed tourist destination. We got really lucky and didn’t have to wait in any lines at all! I usually shy away from “touristy” places (as anyone who’s read even just a few of my posts would know haha), but this was honestly one of the most incredible things ever. the cable car ride was PHENOMENAL, although I will say that I almost regretted paying extra for the special glass cable car vs. the normal one. The parts that are glass instead of solid metal are dirty and scratched enough that it didn’t make much of a difference!
Word to the wise: of all the glass cable cars and glass bridges I saw throughout Asia, 0% of them were even half as cool as the internet ads made them out to be.
Keep scrolling to read more, but FIRST check out some pics from this amazing place! Here is a view from the top — Hong Kong is literally made up of hundreds of islands.
Tai O Fishing Village
The buses at Tian Tan Buddha can take you directly to this beautiful fishing village! You can see that most of these houses are literally built on stilts to sit right over the water. We watched people ride tiny motorboats to get to their houses, fishers, old ladies selling homemade local treats on the street, and tons of genuinely sweet and friendly people. Other than a few signs for boat tours around the village (wish we would have had time to do that!), it really didn’t feel like a “tourist destination” at all. It felt very authentic and I loved getting a feel for how locals do life here.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Okay I’ve waited THIS LONG to tell you about the happiest place [in Hong Kong]! It was especially cool because we got there during their Year of The Dog celebration for Chinese New Year. One of the people who designed the park called it “authentically Disney, distinctly Chinese” and there is no better way of describing it. It feels like Disney, it smells like Disney (hello churros, I’ll take 6 please), but everything has a special Chinese flair. Paper Chinese lanterns, some Asian cuisine, and a mixture of traditional Chinese music and Disney songs playing throughout the park. I LOVED IT.
Want to see more of Hong Kong? Check out my other posts + comment questions and recommendations below!
xx
Comments +