Top Dream Days of 2019, Seeing Big Buddha in Hong Kong

I loved our entire week in Hong Kong last January, including two great hikes climbing up Victoria Peal and atop the Dragon’s Tail, but our day with Big Buddha is perhaps the most memorable. It’s hard to grasp the immensity of Big Buddha until you’re high in the sky on a cable car looking down at this massive sculpture perched atop the hillside on Lantau Island. The sitting Buddha is one of the largest in the world at 112-feet high. We jumped on the excellent subway system to the Tung Chung station and then walked over to the Npong Ping Cable Car. We waited in line with our timed ticket and soon we were on a 25-minute cable car ride past the international airport to the mountainous silhouette that houses Big Buddha. Once the ride ended, we walked past the shops and climbed the 268 steps to go face-to-face with the statue, which made its debut in 1993. Amazing! Then we strolled over to the large Po Lin Monastery, where people were lighting incense and saying prayers for good fortune at the start of the Chinese New Year.