Macao – Taipa and Coloane

After visiting the historic landmarks on the island of Macao, we moved on to the islands of Taipa and Coloane. A bus took us south to Hac Sa Beach. We were off season and the area was pretty deserted. Still, we had no problem finding an open restaurant. After lunch we hiked up to the A-Ma Goddess Statue and the nearby Tin Hau Temple. We weren’t high (a hundred something Continue…

Discovering Macao

After a week of cloudy weather, it finally got sunny in Hong Kong. It was our last day there. We left in the morning for Macao. A little bit of history: part of Portugal from the 16th century, Macao was given back to China in 1999. They’re under a similar level of autonomy as HK: “one country, two systems” or, as I see it, “You are free to do as Continue…

New Year Fireworks Show In Hong Kong

Here are the fireworks: Now let’s talk about logistics. Since the fireworks are launched from barges in Victoria Harbour, you can see them from either the north (around Tsim Sha Tsui) or the south (Hong Kong Island). We read stories about hundreds of thousands of people crowding in Tsim Sha Tsui. Somebody even wrote how he arrived in the area at 10 pm, but was not able to make his Continue…

Lion Rock

It was our last full day in Hong Kong. Based on the weather forecasts I’ve been checking the past week, this looked like the best shot we had for some clear skies and good views over the city. Lion Rock is known for some spectacular nightscapes. So we went on a hike. Sections 3 and 4 of the MacLehose trail. The whole trail has 100 km, while our route had Continue…

The Complete Guide on Visiting the Big Buddha on Lantau Island

Hello and welcome to the “Complete Guide on Visiting the Big Buddha on Lantau Island”. The Tian Tan Buddha (aka Big Buddha) statue is 34 meters tall and is definitely the major attraction on the island. So it really doesn’t matter if you like statues or not or if you’re Buddhist or not. Solely due to this immense peer pressure you will have to visit. Your life would not be Continue…