Ngong Ping Plateau

Perched 500m up in the western hills of Lantau is the Ngong Ping Plateau, a major drawcard for Hong Kong day-trippers and foreign visitors alike, especially since 1993, when one of the world’s largest statues of Buddha was unveiled here. Po Lin Monastery is a huge Buddhist monastery and temple complex that was built in 1924. Today it seems more of a tourist honeypot than a religious retreat, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and still being expanded. Most of the buildings you’ll see on arrival are new, with the older, simpler ones tucked away behind them. Bringing the masses in ever greater numbers to Po Lin is the 5.7km Ngong Ping 360, a cable car linking Ngong Ping with the centre of Tung Chung (downhill and to the north). The ride is well worth taking, offering spectacular views over the airport as it transports you from the high-rise apartments of Tung Chung to the more rural landscapes of Lantau. The lower station is just opposite the Tung Chung MTR station. Less appealing is the upper station, which empties onto the 1.5-hectare Ngong Ping Village just west of the monastery complex. A blatant attempt to commercialise the whole experience, it includes several themed attractions, including two Disney-fied regurgitations of Buddhist stories: Walking with Buddha and the Monkey’s Tale Theatre. They cost $36/18/28 each for adults/concession, but you won’t miss much if you skip these rather sorry audiovisual ‘experiences’. The journey takes 20 to 25 minutes, each glassed-in gondola carries 17 passengers and the system can move up to 3500 people per hour. On a hill above the monastery sits the Tian Tan Buddha, a seated representation of Lord Gautama some 23m high (or 26.4m with the lotus), or just under 34m if you include the podium. There are bigger Buddha statues elsewhere – notably the 71m-high Grand Buddha at Leshan in China’s Sichuan province – but apparently these are not seated, outdoors or made of bronze. It weighs 202 tonnes, by the way. The large bell within the Buddha is controlled by computer and rings 108 times during the day to symbolise escape from what Buddhism terms the ‘108 troubles of mankind’. The podium is composed of separate chambers on three different levels. On the first level are six statues of bodhisattvas, each of which weighs around two tonnes. On the second level is a small museum containing oil paintings and ceramic plaques of the Buddha’s life and teachings. At busy times priority entry is given to those with meal tickets from the monastery’s vegetarian restaurant, Po Lin Vegetarian Restaurant. It’s well worth climbing the 260 steps for a closer look at the statue and surrounding views. The Buddha’s Birthday, a public holiday celebrated in late April or early May, is a lively time to visit, when thousands make the pilgrimage. Visitors are requested to observe some decorum in dress and behaviour. It is forbidden to bring meat or alcohol into the grounds. A 2.5km concrete footpath to the left of the Buddha statue leads to the Lantau Tea Garden, the only one in Hong Kong. The tea bushes are pretty sparse and not worth a detour, but the garden is on the way to the Hongkong Bank Foundation SG Davis Hostel and Lantau Peak, and there are tea leaves for sale.