Before sharing the experience of Hong Kong travel, it is interesting to know how Hong Kong was born. In 17th and 18th century trade balance (silk, porcelain, and tea) between China and Europe was very high. In order to balance out, Britain started exporting the opium drug from India to China, and there was a great increase of opium addicts in China. All this resulted in war between Britain and the Qing dynasty, and after defeat in 1842 Hong Kong was ceded to Britain and handed back to China in July 1997 after 156 years. Till 2050 it will be treated as an autonomous state. The area of Hong Kong is 1114 sq. km, about 1/35th of Kerala, a state of India. The land is full of steep hills all over, with sea in between.
Population – 68-70 Lakh, Almost all are service-oriented. All eatables and grain are imported. The main religions are Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism (traditional Chinese) mixed with Western culture. Even though Britain has ruled for over 150 years, English is not popular here. Mainly people speak Cantonese. People follow Buddha in their religion. Family is patriarchal: family values, family name pride. They think brown- or tan-colored people are labor class. 40% of the workforce is women. The population growth rate is very low. Polygamy and gays are taboo in Hong Kong. Large numbers remain unmarried for getting themselves economically established. There is a large gap between rich and poor. For the same type of work, women are paid a little bit less than men. Earlier we could see some ads like “pretty women preferred.” The crime rate is very low. Saying “thank you” is less common in Hong Kong, like “sorry” in Korea.
We reached Hong Kong at 6 AM from the USA. Our next flight to India was planned at 9 PM deliberately so that we could have a one-day trip to Lantau Island of Hong Kong. My son had already taken an electronic visa from the USA itself. This visa is a one-time entry only and is valid for 6 months.
It was quite early, so we went to a restaurant in the airport to kill some time. No Indian restaurant here. But there is a pure vegetarian restaurant. We took some chou ming kind of this. We came out of the airport, and a taxi was already booked by us.
In 10 minutes we reached the cable car point. O’ my God. It was extreme hot weather. So hot that blisters appeared on our skin. There was a queue of about 150 that time at 9.30. The counter opens at 10 AM. Since we had already taken online tickets in the USA, our queue was separate. We were given colored ribbons on hand to distinguish the batches (10-12 in each). And a guide is allotted for each batch. We entered the cable car (a 6-seater). It has a glass floor. It was about 25 minutes.
ride and we could see series of mountains and seas from top. It was an adventurous experience to travel to Lantau island by transparent glass floored cable car. There were 2 intermediate stations in between this journey when cable wires were exchanged.
When we neared the island we could see Giant Buddha from far. We got down from the cable car and guide took our batch to some tea shops and showed us how chinese prepare tea. Some people purchased tea.
Then we sat in an AC bus and reached boating point in 10 minutes. On way saw some good scenery of sea mountain with lot of whirling roads. We saw agriculture fields, grazing cows etc.
We got down the bus and passed through Chinese village where mainly fishermen live. It was traditional Chinese village who are not yet influenced by western and city culture. But it was unbearable hot in March. Due to heat we developed blisters in hand and foot.
There were 25-30 boats here waiting for tourists. Some people purchased here some typical fried fish. We just had Coca- cola.
It was about 30 minutes of boat ride and guide showed us dancing dolphins in sea. The boat and guide left us at Buddha square.
Finally we reached Great Buddha tall statue. We were really on top hill and there was a good view of surroundings – sea, green mountains, roads houses, villages etc. It is really memorable to touch this point in Hong Kong. So many foreigners here.
There was a Indian Punjabi dhaba near monastery where we took Indian food and departed back and we met the guide again who saw us until the bus to cable station.
Epilogue
Hong Kong, home to one of the world’s busiest ports, is a major manufacturing and global financial hub. It presents a fascinating blend of British colonial heritage and traditional Chinese culture. Since obtaining a visa was relatively easy, we decided to spend our eight-hour layover exploring a part of the city. Among Hong Kong’s many attractions, we chose to visit Lantau Island, where we explored the serene Po Lin Monastery, admired the majestic Tian Tan (Big) Buddha—nearly three times the height of the famous Lord Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola—strolled through the traditional Ngong Ping Village, and visited the historic Kwan Tai Temple. We also enjoyed a scenic cable car ride and a ferry trip, both offering spectacular views of the islands and the South China Sea. It was a rewarding excursion, especially for travelers with only eight hours to spare. One thought, however, lingered in my mind: the Buddha is believed to have discouraged idol worship, yet today, magnificent Buddha statues have become prominent symbols of Buddhism in almost every country where the religion flourishes.
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