Recently took a visiting friend up to the Big Buddha, I hadn't been there for about 8 years and my how it's changed, we did enjoy the cable care ride, but Ngong Ping - oh how special is that place!?
(Hong Kong, where they force rural villagers out of their homes because the houses need to be demolished for developement, then build fake rural villages in more 'appropriate' locations for people to buy Starbucks and MaccyD's in....)
But best of all had to be the giant plastic and fibreglass banyan 'wishing tree'. Building plastic trees outside carries a whole platter of interesting debate points in itself, but what I found most unfathomable were all the people (adults) smiling and having their pictures taken in front of it and paying to hang their wishes on. It's a plastic tree, what level of mystical wish granting powers can it possibly be gifted with?
When we reach the point where it's decided that removing real trees and building 'better' plastic trees is a good idea, where can we possibly go from here?