A few weeks ago, I experienced Hong Kong for the first time, spending five days there on my way back home. For real, I just came back from my first trip to Beijing, in mainland China. Since, my mum wants to see China then I just loved accompanied her. And on our way back home, I was like to have a short trip to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is full with impressive and interesting place to visit. Lots of night markets, small shops, intriguing food (some more palatable than others), there were certainly thousands of industrious and friendly people, and boy, was there tropical humidity. The city is exhilarating to walk through and there are new and unusual things to see on every corner.

Capture the Yellow Duck on Victoria Harbour

When I was in Hong Kong, I did visit two big and famous attractions, one is Lantau Island and Victoria Harbor. Strolling around Victoria Harbor which located between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon was a great way to take a break from the intensity of the city. Another highlight is Lantau Island (largest island in Hong Kong) to visit Big Buddha and Polin Monastery. We took the MTR there, it is a very easy way to get the island just from Hong Kong. As one of the outlying islands Lantau is much greener and sparser than areas like Hong Kong island and Kowloon.

The Big Buddha on Lantau Island

Big Buddha which has known as the Giant Buddha or Tiantan Buddha is the biggest Buddha statue on earth. The statue reaches more than 111 feet (34 meters) high, making it the world's largest seated, outdoor bronze Buddha. To reach the base part of Big Buddha statue, we should hike up about 260 stairs. After climbing on these stairs, I reached to a giant bronze statue of Buddha sitting on a lotus flower on the top of 3-platform altar. It depicts Sakyamuni who sits on a lotus pedestal in meditation position. 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 statue was so magnificent and majestic.

However, it is well worth climbing the 260 steps for a closer look at the statue and surrounding views, which was breathtaking for city visitors like us. Before back to Hong Kong, I did visit Po Lin Monastery which just situated across from the base of the statue. It is the centre for Buddhism in Hong Kong and of course the atmosphere was very sacred. Locals come to pray and burned incense everywhere around us. Overall, I just love my first visit experience to Hong Kong, especially visit Lantau Island.