Lantau

The island of Lantau (the name is derived from the old local name of the Peak of Lantau, 爛頭 Làntóu; 大嶼山/大屿山 Pinyin: Dàyǔ shān, Cantonese: Tai yue shan, island of the large mountain), or Lantao , is the largest island of HongKong and is located at the mouth of the river to the pearls. It belongs to the district of the islands.

Formerly occupied only by peaceful villages of fishermen, the island experienced a very significant development during the last years thanks to the establishment of great infrastructures such as the International airport of HongKong, the amusement park HongKong Disneyland, and the line of MTR Tung Chung, which connects now Lantau with Kowloon and the island of HongKong.

Development of the island

The island measures 146.38 km ² and currently counts 45.000 inhabitants, which is little compared to the 1,4 million the island of HongKong. However, the north of the island, around the open airport in 1998, is under development full and should accommodate 200.000 inhabitants in the long term. The village of Tung Chung, now served by MTR is now a new big city.

Tourism

The center of the island remains fortunately preserved and present of many splendid sites.

The monastery Po Flax in the village of Ngong Ping is principal tourist attraction. It is enriched since 1993 by the statue of Buddha giant, largest in the world in its category (sat, out of bronze, outside). One can also eat in his restaurants vegetarians, and visit the contiguous temple and buildings. A very new cable car (2006) makes it possible to arrive directly at Ngong Ping from the subway station of Tung Chung.

More half of surface of the island east in fact a national park, which one can furrow thanks to many well marked out hiking trails. The main thing is the Lantau Trail, length 70 kilometers, and which gives access the peak of Lantau.

Zh-yue: 大嶼山

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