A Search for Family Roots

U.S. State Department travel advisory: Exercise increased caution in Hong Kong due to civil unrest.

Since June 2019, large and small political demonstrations have taken place in various areas of the city. Some have resulted in violent confrontations between protesters and police.

Ignoring all that, RHS'69 Reunion Committee chair Vincent Yim visited Hong Kong to see and learn about the part of his family he never met.

Back home he removes his flak vest and tells of a wonderous trip.

The highlight of the day was to see the Big Buddha in Ngong Ping.

It is a ways out and once there you had to take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the top of the mountain. When built it was the longest cable car ride in the world. It took about 35 minutes to relay several mountain peaks to get to the Big Buddha.

You can pay for the regular car or the crystal car. Or you can hike in which takes about 3 hours up and down hills and gulches. My niece and her husband did it in hour and 40 minutes. They jogged it. Good to be young.

The Highway to Nowhere, tunnels under the harbor to Macao.

Once to the top, you are so far out in the middle of nowhere, most visitors will spend half day to all day. There are many shops and several restaurant and snack shops. 

There’s 245 steps to get to the Buddha, of course a panoramic view of the country side. 

Because of the unrest, tourism is down more than half and up to 70% in some areas.

Ngong Ping is a major visitor destination. Here we are at peak time normally packed with visitors and we have the whole mall to ourselves.

Everywhere we went it was noticeably slow. If you plan well and know how to avoid danger, it is a good time to visit and avoid the crowd.

Remember 911 and Waikiki was a ghost town, for almost two months.

Hotel rates are excellent. Just booked a 4 star hotel, for May 2020, at $94.00 including free WiFi and breakfast. 

Remember we paid a Premium for the Crystal Cable Car...because there were no floor!  I almost fell off...or does it look like my sisters are trying to pull me off!

February 1, 2020