Lantau Island, Hong Kong

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I was told this was something to definitely factor into our itinery, a day trip to Lantau Island, taking in the Big Buddha, the Cable Car, Tai O Fishing Village and Po Lin Monastery, and we managed to fit all of that into about 7 hours! And it definitely was amazing.

Once again (and I know I keep saying this but its tru!) very very easy to get to. Just take the red line to Lai King and change platforms and lines onto the orange line and get off at Tung Chung Station. Its then just a short walk to get to the cable car entrance. The cable car was amazing, we opted for the crystal cabin one, (glass bottom!) and the ride itself took about 25 minutes and the distance of the cable car is about 6 kilometres. We got to Ngong Ping Village at about 10am and then wandered around for a little while. We had opted for a day package when entering the cable car, which meant all our admissions etc were included. The total price for everything was only $300HK each which was about $32AUD, and this included the cable car ride there and back, bus tour to Tai O Fishing Village, entrance to the Big Buddha and Monastery. Our Tour began at 11.30am and we first went to the Fishing Village which was very interesting indeed. We then went to the Big Buddha (long hot climb up those many steps!) and then to the Po Lin Monastery (Buddhist Monastery). We met a lovely Monk there from Taiwan who knew about our local Wollongong Nan Tien Temple. The Big Buddha is the worlds largest sitting buddha

Overall it was a rather long, hot and tiring day, but one that is worth the effort for sure. The tour we did was run by "Ngong Ping 360" and I feel it was worth paying the little bit extra for it, also because it meant we got express through the very long line of people waiting to get on the cable car and got right to the front of the line!!!!

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This is Hong Kong's biggest sacred building, located on Lantau island and easily reachable by cable car. The building was consecrated in 1927, although the monastery itself was founded in 1906. The name means "Monastery of the Precious Lotus" - at least my guidebook says so.

This has been the first Buddhist monastery I have visited, so I don't have any comparison, but I liked it very much. Although it is located in such a touristy place, with the cable car and all, the atmosphere was very calm and spiritual. There were a few tourists, but no crowds, and everybody behaved accordingly.
There were people praying and lightening joss sticks, and seeing them, I understood one thing: That really no other religion should prevail over another one. Of course I had always known it in my head, but when I saw those people in their monastery, I understood it with my soul and heart.

I strolled through the buildings, gardens and courtyards, but I did not take too many pictures because the whole place felt so sacred and also I did not want to disturb the people who were praying. It was so tranquil and I did not really want to leave again.

There is also a vegetarian restaurant attached to the monastery, but unfortunately I did not go there. The restaurant is open from 11.30am to 4.30pm daily.

The monastery is open from 8am to 6pm daily.

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When I learned the my flight was changed so that now I really had a full day in Hong Kong, I leafed through my guidebook again and at once knew what I wanted to see in the extra time: The Big Buddha!

I had never seen such a Buddha before and I really wanted to see one. Until 2007, this one was even the biggest free-standing Buddha in the world. It was constructed in 1993 and is 22m high, 34m if you include the basement. It is made of bronze.
The proper name of the buddha is "Tian Tan Buddha" which means altar of heaven, as its model was the Altar of Heaven in Beijing.
The Buddha sits on a lotus flower and is surrounded by six smaller statues offering presents, such as flowers and fruit. The statue is located on a mountain and you need to climb a long staircase to reach it.

I must admit though that I did not climb up to it. I was standing at the beginning of the walkway and was just simply too tired and exhausted from my whole trip. Just looking at the stairs made my legs and back ache even more. So I just took some pictures from this distance and resolved to come back to Hong Kong one day to climb it :-)
Yet, I was very impressed by the buddha. It is indeed very big, and as I said, I had never seen such a statue before! I found the architecture and the whole atmosphere very interesting.

You can access the outside of the Buddha for free, but there is a small fee if you want to go inside. Opening times: 10am to 5.30m daily.

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Ngong Ping Village is a village set up to showcase the culture and spiritual tradition of the Ngong Ping area - or you could rather call it a theme park. If you wish to see the Big Buddha, though, you have to go there.
Ngong Ping is the hilly area in this part of Lantau, and the village and cable car were named after it. The village was opened in 2005 as a tourist venue.
I did not spend so much time there, but headed straight to the Buddha, as it all seemed so artificial to me. There are shops and restaurants, and other attractions like the muldimedia show "Walking with Buddha", but I did not visit them. The buildings looked pretty, but it was so obvious that they were all built just a short time ago and were not really old, traditional buildings.

During my short stay there was a kind of musical procession, I liked the music very much and took some pictures of the players from above. They all wore costumes and wide hats. I did not trust though that this really was a traditional procession or just made up for the tourists.

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Usually I am not too big a fan of cable cars, but I enjoyed this one very much. The hilly and green landscape looked so pretty and "Asian", and I was just so happy!
Ngong Ping 360° is located in Lantau and goes to Ngong Ping Village, where the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery are located.

I came to the terminal after my visit to The Peak, and at once saw the only downside of the cable car trip: The crowds waiting at the terminus were HUGE. I waited for more than half an hour, which would not have been a problem, but the entrance hall was very hot and sticky, full of people, and no place to sit down. Together with climate change and jetlag, this is not a good combination :-(
I was glad when the time had gone and I could board the cable car. The speed of the cable car is very fast, still, the ride takes about 25 minutes. It felt much shorter though because it was so interesting, and I was looking out of the window all the time. I found the landscape just so beautiful.
After some time, you see the Big Buddha and have wonderful views of it.

Ngong Ping 360° operates from 10am to 6pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 6.30pm on weekends and public holidays.

Tickets: 125$ for a return ticket for adults, 62$ for children.

This is the world's largest seated outdoor bronze statue of the Buddha (34m, 250 tons). It is surrounded by a ring of Bodhisatvas offering various gifts to the Buddha.

To get here, you need to take a ferry from Central to Mui Wo (Sivermine Bay) and take the #2 bus to Po Lin (pronounced Bo Lin).

After many years, I finally remembered to update this....
Now, with the Ngong Ping 360 gondola ride, it is easier to take the MTR to Tung Chung. There, you will find not only the cable car station but also the Citygate "Factory Outlet" mall.

This is a must visit sightseeing place in Hong Kong. If you have limited time in Hong Kong, do not miss this one out. The whole place has got many things to see and do, take the cable car up and make sure you have a whole day over there!

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Getting here is a breeze take the metro to the last stop and look for the signs showing you where to go, they are perfectly marked. Once there you either pay for a standard cable car or a clear bottom cable car. The prices are fair ... $15 return for the standard and $25 return for the clear bottom one. The ride is about 30 minutes to the top and the views from the cable cars are awesome. The cable car leaves you right at the beginning of a small built tourist village that has just about everything including a Starbucks. Once at the bottom steps of the Big Buddha there is desk that seems like a ticket counter but don't be fooled ... there is no entrance fee to climb up the stairs. The counter is there to try to sell you lunch or tea. The steps are steep and many, it took us about 10 minutes to get to the top. Once at the top the views are outstanding if you ever got a clear day in Hong Kong anymore. Bring something to drink or you can buy something in the small shops they have up top. Your gonna pay about double just keep that in mind, if you buy something once at the top of the steps. Highly recommend it to anyone who can climb the stairs.