Lantau Island

Lantau Island, in the South-West of Hong Kong, is almost twice as large as Hong Kong Island. However, only 45,000 people live on that island compared with 1.4 million on Hong Kong Island. As a consequence it is considerably less crowded and greener and therefore an excellent retreat from noisy Hong Kong Island.
The island is most renowned for the great Buddha, which is the largest seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha statue in the world.

One of six statues of bodhisattvasThe Buddha was cast in Nanjing and shipped to Hong Kong in 1993You can enjoy some nice views from up there after climbing 271 steps
Po Lin MonasteryBurning incense sticks
Lantau PeakView of the Soko Islands south of Lantau IslandWaiting for the bus in the searing heat - not without an umbrella
Lovely Tai O in the west of Lantau - it's definitely worth coming here...Tai O is famous for its stilt houses...

...and for sea food...

In the northwest of Lantau is Chek Lap Kok, built in reclaimed land - every minute or so you can see a plane passing by...
A little south of Tai OLantau trail stages 8 and 9
Shek Pik Reservoir - if you look closely you can see a dot on the mountains......that's the buddhaI chose hike No. 13 from the book Hong Kong hikes from Shek Pik Reservoir to Tong Fuk
I met a huge spider, a stick insect and a snake along the wayView of Soko Islands
It was the day before typhoon Krovangh hit Hong Kong and you could feel it
Lo Kai Wan Bay
The only person I met that afternoon...If you wonder why this picture is so large: the distinct feature of this beach were the many cancers which you can only see in a close-up
Lo Kai Wan Bay could have been lovely if it hadn't been for the litterTong Fuk Mui Wan


Discovery Bay