Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha), Hong Kong, China

5Susan C 5:00 PM Feb 25, 2023

Lost in the clouds
Our visit to the Big Buddha was on a very foggy day in the mountains and our view of the Big Buddha was quite obscured even when on the walkway immediately underneath. My companion had visited when the temple was hidden by scaffolding, however, so she felt this was a better view than that. I felt it made it quite mysterious though, of course, I would have liked to see it better! While the actual buddha was lost in the clouds we were able to clearly see the other statues of devas surrounding it. We toured the inside of the temple (free but no photos) and found that quite interesting. We arrived at the Big Buddha via the Ngong Ping 360 cable car (which had signs warning about the obscured views). There are quite a number of steps leading up to the Big Buddha entrance with some sad-looking water lilies along the way. We also visited the charming Po Lin Monastery which was not so obscured by the foggy clouds. Afterwards we took the bus in the Ngong Ping village down to the Tai O village at the end.

4Sini N 5:00 PM Jan 6, 2020

A beautiful hike up to see the Big Buddha
If you choose to take the Ngong Ping cable car to the Big Buddha, you miss out on a really nice hike up to the top. Actually the hike and FINALLY at some point getting the first glimpse of the statue from a distance was the best part: the village with all tourists and souvenir shops was disappointing and ruined the feeling of a pilgrimage that we reached during the 2,5h uphill walk. We walked all the way from Tung Chung MTR station, and needed some Google Maps guidance to find the right path. We encountered maybe 5 people during the 10km walk. I recommend this hiking experience, but not to anyone who is not in a rather decent physical condition. Going up non stop for 2,5 hours can get a bit straining. However, challenging yourself and finally getting the reward of seeing the Buddha make it worth the effort! You can take the cable car down, and enjoy the ride. Before to go, check the cable car schedules to get down or prepare to walk back down, maybe in darkness.