Tian Tan Buddha, Lantau, Hong Kong.

At 34 metres tall, weighing about 250 metric tonnes, this is the largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha in the world – you’ll find that with the world’s Big Buddhas they’ll get extremely specific about adjectives to ensure theirs comes closer to the top of the list.

Although this Buddha isn’t especially old, it is very impressive, and sits in a beautiful location. Completed in 1993, made out of a steel infrastructure and over 200 massive bronze plates, it was placed near the slightly older Po Lin Monastery (founded 1906) on Lantau Island, where it dominates the view on a clear day. Allegedly. Alas getting a clear day in Hong Kong requires either phenomenal good fortune or living there.

The Buddha is at the top of 268 steps, with plenty of rests along the way. I encountered a lovely elderly lady who was mounting, kneeling, and praying on each individual step on her way up, possibly in the hope of reaching the gift shop and ice cream vendors dotted around Buddha’s bottom without expiring in the morning heat en route. I however chose to disguise my terrible lack of fitness by pausing to photograph the beautiful flowers lining the stairs now and then.

Facing Buddha are six Daevas, each representing one of the six qualities required to achieve nirvana. The offerings are of flowers, incense, a lamp, ointment, fruit and music, and symbolise (in the same order) charity, precepts, patience, zeal, meditation and wisdom. Where the Buddha is perhaps a little overwhelming, these Daevas are more personable, radiating compassion… Perhaps a little too well, as most now have barriers around them to prevent tourists hugging or clambering over them.

The view from the Buddha is as stunning as the view up toward it from Ngong Ping, and there are facilities at the top of the stairs to save you having to leave too soon.

Should you actually be Buddhist, there are areas within the statue’s base for devotions and offerings. The Memorial Hall in particular houses a relic, but one cannot gain entry without purchasing an offering to take in. I’m not the kind of tourist who can interrupt people’s daily lives to intrusively take pictures, so these areas remain unphotographed by me.

This is an excellent way to spend a morning. Highly recommended, especially if you do manage to get a clear day.

Incense burner along the stairs up to Buddha

An excuse for a pause along the stairs

Buddha from the bottom of the steps

He really does have a very large head

Very large indeed!

I should have taken a macro lens...

The Daeva of the Lamp

The Daevas of Lamp and Flower

The Daevas of Music, Ointment and Incense

Admission: Free, but access to the Memorial Hall requires the purchase of an offering.

Tips: Best combined with visits to the Wisdom Path and the Po Lin Monastery and a trip on the Ngong Ping 360. You can also go for a hike into the mountains beyond the Wisdom Path if you’re an adventurous sort – hiking routes are clearly mapped and marked. Without the hike, allow about four hours for the Buddha, Wisdom Path, Po Lin Monastery and Ngong Ping “Buddhist theme village”. Wear suitable walking shoes.

How to get there: If you don’t mind a bit of a queue (or in high season a hell of a queue), use the Ngong Ping 360 from Tung Chung. This is best on one of those mythical “clear days” I’ve heard of, but so long as you have some visibility this is a phenomenal experience. Otherwise, if hanging off a cable ludicrously high up a mountain doesn’t appeal to you, you can get buses: from Tung Chung, the NLB number 23; and from Mui Wo the NLB number 2. Both go to Ngong Ping.

From Ngong Ping, it’s a dawdle through the aforementioned “Buddhist theme village”, then a ten minute walk to the steps leading up to the Buddha. All clearly signposted, but the giant Buddha also acts as a fairly good indicator of direction.

Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha – Wikipedia’s article on the Tian Tan Buddha.

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