Wednesday, April 30, 2008Tian Tan / Lantau Island
Tian Tan, for those of you who haven’t heard of it (like me, a month ago), is a village on Lantau Island, just off the Hong Kong coast. Its original claim to fame is the remote Po Lin Buddhist Monestary, then since 1990, the world’s largest outdoor seated Buddha. Once you survive the zillion step climb to the top of the shrine, the views are truly breathtaking (assuming you’ve still got some breath left). Sarah, Isaac and I got there just as a cloud bank was rolling in...beneath us. Pretty awesome sight.
Since the Ngong Ping 360 came along, however, the once serene village at the base of the Buddha peak has become home to not only our rotund friend, but an outdoor mall of Disney-like restaurants, gift shops, and Starbucks. One Italian eatery went so far as to paint a floor to ceiling mural of Saint Peter’s and the Vatican on the front of the restaurant.
A Catholic cathedral at the foot of Tian Tan’s Buddha? Sometimes, moving forward truly equates to two steps back.
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