Today I went to see the Tian Tan Buddha which is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze buddha...a niche category for sure, but nonetheless impressive.
The trip started with a 50 minute ferry ride from Central, Hong Kong Island to Mui Wo on Lantau Island. From there I took a bus to the Po Lin Monestary in Ngong Ping (randm cantonese lesson: to learn to pronounce words starting with 'ng' say the word 'sing' and then remove the 'si')
View of HK Island from the ferry:
I had to walk up many steps to get there. Once at the top, I went inside to learn interesting facts...one of which is that after Buddha reached perinirvana, he cremated himself. His cremated remains were scattered around the globe, inside the statue there are supposedly two pieces of those remains on display. They are as small as a grain of rice and behind glass, so I couldn't get a very good look. They say that each person who looks at it sees a different color. Seeing as how I couldn't even see it, I saw no color, I wonder what the person next to me saw
Another interesting fact that I just now learned, thanks to Wikipedia, is that inside the Buddha, there is a bell that rings every 7 minutes...108 times a day, "symbolizing the release of 108 kinds of human vexations." You Lost fans will understand and build this into your next theory.
This is what Buddha gets to look at every day:
It was interesting to see people praying to the Buddha statues. I didn't think Buddhists really worshiped Buddha, but just revered him as a great teacher, not a god or a deity. I guess I was wrong, there was lots of praying and burning of incense. Incense is pretty big here in Hong Kong, I'll have to explain more later.
I here this guy plays a mean banjo:
This was funny, this is called a "lucky pan" You're supposed to rub the sides and if you're lucky, you'll get the water to bubble up. This guy got it to work, but others didn't. I'm guessing it works because the rubbing creates vibrations that cause the water to bubble up.
And this was my lunch, Chinese tea and chicken fried rice. Not too bad.
All in all, a fun and interesting day!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
My Visit to See the Big Bronze Buddha
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing about your interesting outing, and the pictures! Keep it up - I'm living vicariously through you for now!
Very cool read. Looks like it was fun. And the chicken fried rice looks really grood.
wow Nick, what an awesome post. Funny, informative and those are some of the best pictures you have taken! The view from the buddha is AWESOME! SEE!! you should listen to me more often, you're a good blogger when you actually blog :)
and i totally thought the same thing about the LOST reference w/ the 108 thing...
You rock!
The fried rice wasn't too bad. The only problem with chicken dishes here is that the meat is always really fatty and usually has the skin still on. That's fine if it's KFC, but not in my fried rice, thank you :)
Post a Comment