It was quite a coup finding these photos from Lantau Island my mom took back in 1990. Although I hadn’t seen them in 25 years, that trip is something that stayed with me and something my mom and I still talk about.
I’d been in Hong Kong for four months when my mom flew over to visit me during winter break. We took a day to visit Lantau, one of Hong Kong’s many outlying islands. It was super rustic back then without the gondolas people enjoy these days.
We took a ferry to Lantau, then boarded these single-decker buses. Honestly, if I hadn’t seen the label on the back of the print, I wouldn’t have known where this was taken.
The main attraction on Lantau is this big outdoor Buddha. The vegetarian lunch on the grounds was legendary back then. But if memory serves me right, this photo was taken near the only loo in this general vicinity. They were rustic beyond belief and such we hadn’t seen in Hong Kong before or since. And that’s saying a lot because back then when China turned off the water, the toilets at my university were out of order like you’ve never seen.
Here’s a gate and some random visitors.
And finally, the Buddha and me. It was probably about 70F, which warranted a jacket or sweatshirt like I’m wearing here. I must have southern blood because since then anything under 70F/21C feels positively frigid to me!
Have you been to Lantau Island? Did you know it’s also spelled Lantao in older publications. It’s kind of like Macau/Macao, which is simply a difference in style.
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