307--China: Hong Kong: Aberdeen and the Big Buddha
@ CherieSpotting Jul 20 2005 - 05:23 PST

cherie writes: Flashback: January 2005
A few centuries ago, the floating city of Aberdeen was a hide-out for pirates. Now the harbor is a refuge for a different kind of rogue—“boat people.” Aberdeen’s “boat people” have shunned society’s restrictions and formed their own community on the water.

Unfortunately, many complain that Hong Kong’s “boat people” are derelict and an eyesore. Men strangled by ties and trapped inside a square of false light and buzzing technology, gaze down from their cubes and judge the vagabonds below as unfortunate. The "riffraff" smile peacefully to themselves, finding humor in the irony of the situation: a man caged in an office all day feels sorry for the "bum" who wakes up to an ocean view and leisurely spends his days fishing. Local businessmen may say the “boat people” are odd, but I think the eccentricity of Aberdeen Harbor brings the city of Hong Kong another dimension of charm.

Aberdeen Harbor is alive with boats that have just as much character as their owners, just as a crooked tooth often makes a man more attractive.

Hong Kong’s ultra-modernization has crept into the simple life of the peaceful fishing village with skyscrapers towering over the shabby docks. No wonder Chinese people call their boats "junks," the harbor is alive with dead boats. Taking a sampan ride through Aberdeen Harbor gives you a glimpse into another way of life—a world of barely floating junks and sampans juxtaposed against the steel and glass of Hong Kong’s contemporary architecture.

After Scott, Margaret and I took a ride through the Aberdeen Harbor, Margaret and I headed for Lantau Island to see the “Big Buddha”, also known as the Tian Tan Buddha.

The Big Buddha's construction began in 1990 and was finished in 1993 to the tune of 68 million dollars. The Tian Tan Buddha is the world’s largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha. (That’s a mouthful and the Big Buddha is an eyeful!) You have to climb 268 steps to reach the Buddha which was formed out of 202 pieces of cast bronze.

A couple hundred tons in weight, the Big Buddha sits perched on the Ngon Ping plateau near the Po Lin Monastery. The Po Lin Monastery (which translates to Precious Lotus Monastery) was built by three Zen Masters in 1920. They have massive incense perpetually burning in the Buddha’s honor.

This Buddha is unique not just because of its size, but because of the fact that He faces North (most large Buddhas face South). There’s a Big Bell inside the Big Buddha that was designed to ring 108 times a day (or every seven minutes.) Alledgedly inside the Tian Tan Buddha are also some of the cremated remains of the Buddha Sakyamuni.