April 29 (Lunar calendar: March 10), 2023 Saturday | Dawnxisoul393art
《A "Town of Nations" - Discovery Bay》, painted by dawnxisoul393
Today, we finally realized our long-time idea of bringing our daughter little Dawnxi back to Discovery Bay to paint. Little Dawnxi painted Koi and lotus full of childlike innocence in Discovery Bay ... Discovery Bay is located in a coastal area in the northeastern part of Lantau Island, overlooking Hong Kong Island and Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in 2005. Surrounded by hills, Discovery Bay covers a total area of about 650 hectares. At present, the overall plot ratio of Discovery Bay is only 0.15, and the greening area accounts for 2 / 3 of the total area. When construction started in 1977, Discovery Bay was still deserted and only accessible from boats. With the construction of the Hong Kong Airport next to Discovery Bay in the 1990s, the number of people living in Discovery Bay increased dramatically.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
The developer continued to develop new residential sites and built a luxury hotel, golf course, yacht club, and supporting infrastructure to develop Discovery Bay into a resort-style integrated residential project. Today, the population of Discovery Bay has increased to more than 20000. The Discovery Bay Tunnel was opened to traffic on 27 May 2000, the first road tunnel built by the developer in Hong Kong, thus opening up Discovery Bay to land transportation. The developer has been keen to develop Discovery Bay into a green town since the early planning stage of the project, hence the inclusion of green building elements in the project. A large amount of land area has been planned as landscaped and green areas, including a central park, mangrove wetland natural ecology, and countryside hiking trails.
Daniel first visited Discovery Bay many years ago, when he returned to Hong Kong from the UK to do research for doctoral (DBA) thesis. Daniel was surprised to find that there was such a small town in Hong Kong. People's living environment and lifestyle were so similar to those in Britain, with the lights swaying, music playing, people drinking wine, and chatting in the sea breeze. A few years ago, we lived in Discovery Bay for a whole year. It was because we found a breathtakingly beautiful koi and lotus pond next to La Serene residential community located halfway up the hill in Discovery Bay. At that time, we were beginning to create lotus goddess paintings in some southern water areas of China. We moved into Discovery Bay and lived in another residential community, Clear View (Middle Village), not far from the koi pond and the La Serene residential community.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
Every time we returned to Hong Kong from sketching in the southern waters areas of China, we would sort out our sketches by that pond and paint the final pictures. During that year, besides going out to sketch, we were always busy beside the koi lotus pond and finished many paintings of the lotus goddess. After leaving Discovery Bay, we returned to Discovery Bay for several short stays, including when Doris was pregnant with our daughter, and after she was born. What's the attraction of Discovery Bay? From the first day of Discovery Bay's development, the difference between Discovery Bay and other residential areas in Hong Kong has been very obvious. For example, the roads in the area are still not open to the public until today, only Discovery Bay buses and a few other licensed vehicles can access and drive on the roads here.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
Apart from buses, the daily means of transportation for residents are golf carts and bicycles, and golf carts are a major feature of Discovery Bay. In addition, a leisurely and comfortable horse-drawn carriage ride in Discovery Bay with two European thoroughbred horses is another attraction of the town, as is sightseeing and enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way. It is a newly developed, modern town with roads that are even wider than some in downtown Hong Kong. It is even the most Europeanised seaside town in Hong Kong due to its backdrop of mountains and sea, open view, and fresh air. There are European-style shopping malls in the north and south of Discovery Bay, so shopping and sampling different national cuisines are very convenient.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
Sometimes we went out every morning from Monday to Friday to work at the library in the north of town, and there was no very stressful rush atmosphere. Every time we went out, the first thing we saw was the verdant mountain scenery, and there were already a lot of people playing beach volleyball on the beach with the sunrise. Sometimes we went to the old Central Library in Central, Hong Kong, from Discovery Bay Pier, and took about 25 minutes from Discovery Bay to Central by ferry, so we could take a short nap, the ferry ran every 15 minutes during peak commuting hours and every 30 minutes at other times. If we needed to go to Tung Chung Library on Lantau Island, we took a bus and went straight to Tung Chung through the town's tunnel. We can also take the MTR or other transportation from Tung Chung to other places.
Many people said that DB (Discovery Bay) = Dogs & Babies, and indeed it was a very pet and kid-friendly place. There was a special "dog parking place" in front of the supermarket, and a large children's play area on the beach where we could see children playing every day. While the kids were playing, the adults were not left idle. Beach volleyball, cricket, Frisbee, swimming, canoeing, and more - there were plenty of beach activities to do at Discovery Bay, and the community held a variety of cultural events and markets throughout the year. Every day, we could see children and adults playing on the beach with full of energy. Sometimes we couldn't help but take off the stress of the day and join our friends and have a great time too.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
Epicland, the largest indoor playground in Hong Kong, was located in the northern part of Discovery Bay, covering an area of about 14,000 square feet, with the largest indoor slide in Asia and a variety of fun and educational indoor games. Adults and children could enjoy the whole day together as a family. Aerial ropes, rock climbing, and upright slides challenge physical ability and daring. There were also bouncy houses, flying ropes, shooting areas, mini-golf, children's playgrounds, deep-sea wave pools, a climbing maze, slides of different sizes. The playground had a cafe, a dining area, and a changing table in the restroom, and the overall design was very convenient for mothers and fathers.
In the north of Discovery Bay, there was also the famous Discovery Bay Waterfront White Chapel, which has many pieces of floor-to-ceiling glass on all sides of the chapel, so that the sunlight outside can shine in and the guests inside could see the sea and sky outside, making it a romantic place to hold a wedding. On weekends, if we wanted to hike, we could hike and walk to all parts of Lantau Island from Discovery Bay. Sometimes, If we wanted to spend a relaxing weekend, D'Deck Plaza in the center of Discovery Bay was the best choice. Following the D'Deck corridor into Discovery Hill Road, an easy walk that took about an hour. With green hills and a cool breeze along the way, the panoramic view of Discovery Bay would slowly unfold as we walked along.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393
If we walked about 20 minutes from our home in Clear View (Midvale Village), we could reach a viewing platform, which offered a direct view of Hong Kong Island. There were shopping malls, restaurants, bars, supermarkets, bookstores, medical clinics, pet hospitals, hair salons, electronics stores, 711 Watsons, and even an ice skating rink in Discovery Bay, so we could basically purchase all the necessities of life without leaving town. When we lived in the town, most of the time we cooked our own meals, and the two large supermarkets in the north and south of the town were quite complete, and the prices of some of our common goods were similar to those of the supermarkets in the city. During the time we lived in the town, we enjoyed the "slow life in the European countryside" of Discovery Bay.
When we lived in Discovery Bay, after work, we could look at the mountains, the sea, and the children playing on the beach, and there was an indescribable peace and tenderness in our hearts. When we talked to our little Dawnxi about all of the above, she seemed to understand and not understand, but she kept smiling and nodding her head. Before we left Discovery Bay today, she drew a big sun ...
Comments
Post a Comment