hong kong's tian tan buddha

Today, as I was hunting for an old file on my computer, I stumbled across photos from a few years ago. When my previous computer was on its last leg, I transferred all of my photos onto my new computer and then just left them there and forgot all about them. Today, I was so excited to find great photos from Hong Kong, Halong Bay and Bali, so naturally, instead of working like I should have due to the looming end of the quarter, I blogged, played tennis and visited the local flower market.

Ce la vie.

But this means you can look forward to a lot of fun goodies here!

I'll start with Hong Kong because we are actually in the process of planning another trip to this mega city. We visited Hong Kong in 2013. We flew in on Friday and flew out on Sunday. It was a hectic but fun trip. While in the city, we took a gondola up into the mountains to visit the Tian Tan Buddha, which is also known as The Big Buddha. I guess it's pretty obvious why:

The Big Buddha was built in 1993 and is a huge draw for practicing Buddhists and curious visitors alike. This statue is one of the five big Buddha statues in China, and visitors have to climb 268 steps to reach it. At the top, visitors learn that the Buddha's right hand is raised and open, symbolizing the removal of affliction, and the left hand is open on his lap, symbolizing generosity. Surrounding the Buddha are six smaller statues that offer flowers, incense, fruit and other things. They symbolize the qualities necessary for enlightenment: generosity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation and wisdom.

From the top, visitors can also start to see that there is a little more to Hong Kong than the city. Even through the fog & smog, it is undeniable that the green hillsides are pretty to look at and pretty marvelous, especially considering it's via gondola travelers get to traverse them.

(as for me, I had a lot of fun getting to know The Big Buddha with my camera)