Flying Fox still keen on zip-line attraction
Overseas tour group Flying Fox still wants to build a zip-line attraction in Hong Kong and is considering three locations in Lantau, according to its partner Ngong Ping 360.
The group proposed last year to build two sets of 300-metre cross-valley parallel zip lines in North Lantau near the cable car terminal, enabling participants to hook on a line and zoom from one station to the next at great height.
Government advisers and green groups objected, saying the proposal was an inappropriate use of a country park.
But the founders of Flying Fox - Jonathan Walter, who served with the British Army in Hong Kong, and Richard McCallum, who worked with Swire Group and Cathay Pacific - have strong faith in the city and would like to press on, Ngong Ping 360's managing director Wilson Shao Shing-ming said yesterday.
"They were surprised by the strong opposition to the plan," he said, adding that the group is now trying to find non-country park areas to build the attraction. It could submit a revised proposal to the government next year.
Meanwhile, the cable car operator is planning to revamp its 6,000 square feet theatre attraction at Ngong Ping Village.
The "Monkey's Tale Theatre", which opened in 2006, presents a 2-D animation of Buddhist stories. It will be closed this September for a makeover.
In the first three years of opening, about one-tenth of cable car passengers watched the show, Shao said. Now only a single-digit percentage of them do so. "It's a good 2-D show. But visitors have higher expectations now and want something more," he said.
