Hong Kong for 6 hours: the Tung Chung cable car up to the Big Buddha

When I was here before there was not much to do on a stopover, if you didn't have the money for shopping and you'd eaten all the food you wanted for a while, except take the funicular tram to the Peak, and having got there you could walk about on the dusty path with all the other people, both residents and tourists, and admire the view  of skyscrapers down below, islands and the harbour. I remember looking at all the tall blocks of flats and thinking how amazing that so many people had so few parks, so that a trip up to the top made a day out. (I think that there were monkeys up there but I may have confused it with Gibraltar.) I mainly remember over-hearing a hair-raising conversation of some aircrew who were up there getting over the shock of a near-crash experience. The runway at H.K. was notoriously difficult.

Now there is a new airport on a purpose-built island - a merger of two pre-existing islands plus land reclamation. The layout and the airport buildings are glossy and spacious - built to an impressive specification and scale. We looked at a map and decided to visit the nearest island by catching a bus, (the S1) because there was a much nearer cable-car trip this time, at Tung Chung. Outside the airport, we looked for the bus-stop and had to get the right change (the buses are like Egnlish buses, double-deckers.) The temperature was warm but not too hot, but the humidity was like a sauna.

My oh my, what a cable-car trip! It goes on and on. As soon as I saw it I wanted to do it even if it was expensive, which it is. It takes you up into the cloud. It's so hot and damp it feels like being in the tropical dome at the Eden centre. The views are of sea, islands, building works - the airport island is being extendd - and below the car are the lush green trees and bushes. On and on, up and up. There are seven mighty towers to hold the cables and 2 angle stations. One of the stations is on the airport island but it wasn't possible to get on or off there (I expect it will be one day.)

I am typing this in the foyer of the Novotel in Brisbane at 5 in the morning - have been awake since 2 or so - my body clock is seriously upset and it's taking it longer to adapt than I thought it would. But I like the foyer; the peaceful space, good lighting, canned music and the quiet. This is an Apple computer and has a big screen, a weird keyboard and an annoying operating system. But it's not Apple's fault that the damn thing keeps timing me out.

 The destination is newly-built like a Disneyland - I always seem to liken major developments, built from scratch, to Disneyland - to explain the quality of it I think, the stone paths and the well-designed and solidly-built structures. Really, it's Buddhaland. There are souvenir shops, food "outlets" and a restaurant, and cinema - big screen? - seems to be showing "the life of Buddha", and theatre with a similarly themed show. A path enourages you to think about spiritual things as you walk along as there are statues of Buddhist role models - 12 generals, each representing both a sign of the Chinese zodiac, and also, 2 hours of the day, and each holds a symbol.

Next there is a concentric structure which we hoped was the Big Buddha, although we couldn't see any statue; it turned out to be some concentric walls designed as a prayer garden. Here we saw a Buddhist monk, something like the Dalai Lama for age, dressed in a long pale dressing gown rather than an orange robe.

We followed the signs for the Big Buddha and they led to a double line of wide steps which led up into the cloud, but on and on we went - it turns out that there were 260 steps; and it you looked over the wall of the structure, far below you could see the old original track up to the peak, and I believe that the single-track, wood-slatted path would have been a penitential pilgrimage. The point of going would have been to visit the Buddhist monastery on the peak. How amazingly difficult the construction of it must have been! Even the climb up the steps we did was a physical challenge in the heat - it was a very moist day, with the cloud sometimes turning to rain. When we finally reached the top we couldn't see the Buddha for the cloud, but I think it was a beautiful one. Around the structure the tall plants were beating around in the wind.

We had to rush down again (and it is really a nonsense for me to rush down steps; I just have to go steadily because of my Fear) because of having to check in for our flight to Cairns. We were dismayed to see how long the queue was for the downhill cable car. Thousands of people were patiently standing in a long line that wrapped round and round itself so you couldn't see how long it was, (they were all looking at their smartphones) and we figured we wouldn't get down to the airport for at least an hour and a half. My husband went to ask if there was a bus we could catch instead, and then a miracle happened. When he explained that we had a flight to catch, the member of staff whom he asked took us straight to the front of the queue. We jumped the entire queue and caught the second car that came along. Amazing.

We caught the bus to the airport (the S1). Then we found our flight had been delayed by two hours! So annoying because I had missed the opportunity to buy a cheesy fridge magnet or two, and done all that queue-jumping and dashing around. We were so tired we nearly collapsed into our paper tea cups. Neither of us can sleep on a plane.

More facts

Apparently the Peak (Victoria Peak) by funicular is still the most popular visitor attraction and now there are lots of shops up there (I remember a cafe but I don't remember shops).

The new cable car trip is 5.7 km long.

The monastery is called Po Lin Monastery. (Precious Lotus Zen Temple). It was built in 1907 and is open to the public. There are 3 big halls with great statues to the Buddha representing his past, present and future lives.

The Big Buddha is 34 metres tall, made of bronze and was completed in 1993. It symbolises the harmonious relationship between people and nature [we wish!], and people and faith. The Buddha's right hand is raised, symbolising the removal of affliction, while the left opens on his left as a gesture of generosity.