OK, people say that it looks like a crouching lion only when you view it from a certain angle. I tried, but it looks like the Great Sphinx of Giza to me… Still a lion, I guess.
Legend has it that Kowloon (九龍, near the center of Hong Kong, literally means “nine dragons”) was once tormented by nine dragons (hence the name of that place). The heaven then sent down a lion to deal with them. Eight of them got defeated and became the Pat Sin Leng we have today (八仙嶺, literally “Eight Deities Hill”). The lion then turned into a huge rock and seal away the remaining dragon, thus becoming the Lion Rock Mountain.
Lion Rock Mountain maybe a great choice for hiking and picnic nowadays, but there’s more about it!
During 1960 and 1970, Hong Kong was still rebuilding from poverty. The RTHK filmed a TV series called “Below the Lion Rock” (獅子山下, directed by Ann Hui), showing how Hongkongers lived in hardship but were not willing to give up, and were even dedicated to overcome it and pursue their own happiness.
The show became so famous that the name “Lion Rock” is later used to symbolize Hong Kong as a whole, and the “Lion Rock Spirit” to refer to Hongkongers’ hard work and dedication.
Also, during the Umbrella Revolution in 2014, some Hongkongers hung up a banner written with 我要真普選 (“I want real universal suffrage”) to show how they are committed to fight for a non-rigged universal suffrage (of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong) and democracy under the Beijing government ’s rule.
Alright, let’s stop here before things get too political.
Anyway, you can see that Lion Rock Mountain is an important symbol to Hong Kong, because it’s not just a mountain, but also an idea.
…And idea is bullet-proof, poverty-proof and hardship-proof.
Sorry, I can’t help it.
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