Day 10, Outlying Islands of China

Good morning

Aaah, what a clear, sunny day in Macau......Jasi has just lent me a pair of binoculars......what's this I see in the distance??? It looks like a HUGE statue of Lord Buddha! I am going in search of it.......Come along......Mel and Jasi.


Hmmm, what is that smell?? Fish, fish, fish.......Tai O is a fishing town located in the northwest of Lantau Island and more than three centuries old. Stilt houses, historical setting such as waterways, and fishing boats ...this is a typical fishing village scenery.
Traditional Chinese food like salted fish and shrimp paste, and shark fins( for shark fin soup) - can be found there.

Look at the monks pulling at the rope to get the raft across the water........just like 300 years ago- but they have bulit a bridge across the river too;-)

I am still searching for that Buddha statue....so lets move on...towards Ngong Ping Plateau, on Lantau Island,Hong Kong
We have reached Po Lin Monastery ("Precious Lotus Zen Temple") was initially known as "The Big Hut"; is a Buddhist monastery

Let's go inside

I have found it...the large Buddha I have been looking for all day!
The statue is named Tian Tan Buddha because its base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The Buddha statue sits on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar. It is surrounded by six smaller bronze statues representing gods or immortals.

The Buddha is 34 metres (110 ft) tall, weighs 250 metric tons (280 short tons), and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007.

Okay, exercise time......we have to climb 268 steps in order to reach the Buddha.

Wow, the Tian Tan Buddha appears so serene and dignified. His right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction. His left hand rests on his lap in a gesture of giving dhana. The Buddha faces north, which is unique among the great Buddha statues, as all others face south.

In addition, there are 3 floors beneath the Buddha statue: The Hall of Universe, The Hall of Benevolent Merit, and The Hall of Remembrance. There is a huge carved bell inscribed with images of Buddhas in the show room. It was designed to ring every seven minutes, 108 times a day, symbolising the release of 108 kinds of human vexations.

Wow, all that exercise has made us hungry so we are going to enjoy a hearty vegetarian meal here before moving on.......past Sivermine Bay, to Hong Kong.