A 34-metre bronze Buddha on a Lantau hilltop, reached by 268 steps and a cable car over the sea.
The Tian Tan Buddha — usually just the Big Buddha — is 34 metres of bronze seated on a lotus on a hilltop at Ngong Ping, western Lantau. It was completed in 1993, cast in 202 pieces in mainland China, and was for some years the largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha in the world.
It faces north, which is unusual for a Buddha statue and is generally explained as looking towards the Chinese mainland.
The climb
268 steps from the plaza to the base. There is no lift and no alternative route; the steps are broad and even, and most people manage them in ten minutes with a pause.
At the top, six smaller bronze figures — the Offering of the Six Devas — surround the platform, presenting flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit and music.
Inside the base is a small exhibition hall, free with a monastery meal ticket, containing a relic said to be of the Buddha.
Po Lin Monastery
Founded in 1906 by three monks from Jiangsu, and the reason the Buddha is here. The main temple hall was rebuilt and reopened in 2014 after a fire, and it is richly decorated in a way the plaza outside is not.
The monastery runs a vegetarian restaurant which is the standard lunch here — simple Buddhist cooking, no onion or garlic, bought as a ticket that also admits you to the Buddha’s exhibition hall. It is unremarkable food in a genuinely pleasant setting.
The Wisdom Path nearby is a short walk to 38 wooden columns arranged in a figure of eight, carved with the Heart Sutra. It takes twenty minutes and is usually empty.
Ngong Ping 360
A 5.7-kilometre cable car from Tung Chung, taking about 25 minutes over the water and across the hills. The Crystal Cabin has a glass floor and costs more.
Queues at Tung Chung are the main problem — over an hour at weekends and during holidays. Book a timed slot online if you can.
It closes for maintenance for a period most years, usually in January or February, and in high winds. Check before travelling.
Bus 23 from Tung Chung town centre is the alternative: cheap, about 50 minutes on a spectacular winding road, and it runs when the cable car does not.
Ngong Ping Village
The strip between the cable car and the monastery is a purpose-built retail village with themed shops and attractions. It is unloved and easily walked through.
Practicalities
Free to visit the Buddha and the monastery; the cable car, the exhibition hall and the meal are ticketed.
Allow half a day including travel from the city — Tung Chung is 30 minutes on the MTR Tung Chung line.
Tai O, the stilt-house fishing village, is 20 minutes further by bus 21 and the two combine into one very good day.
More Landmarks
Victoria Peak
The view that sells Hong Kong, reached by a tram at a gradient that pins you to the seat.
The Star Ferry
A ten-minute crossing on a green-and-white boat that has run since 1888 and costs less than a bottle of water.
Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
A waterfront walk facing the most photographed skyline in Asia, with a nightly light show pointed at it.