One of the major tourist places in Hong Kong is the Big Buddha. The Big Buddha or more officially called the Tian Tan Buddha 天坛大佛 was at one time largest outdoor seated Buddha in the world. That is quite a mouthful. I seems like countries are in a rush to be the best, number one in everything, sometimes it becomes silly how they add qualifiers to just to make their descriptions end with “est” like “biggest”, “tallest” and the like.
The Tian Tan Buddha is found in the island of Lantau of Hong Kong SAR. Lantau is the largest island of the territory and is home not only to the Big Buddha but also to Mickey Mouse and the massive Hong Kong International Airport. Lantau Island is just a ferry ride away from Hong Kong Island as regular ferry services connect the islands.
From the ferry terminal in Mui Wo in Lantau Island, there is a bus terminal where you can take the bus to the Ngong Ping, where the Big Buddha is. It is a scenic ride to the top of the mountain where you get to see a lot of Lantau Island. Much of the island is thankfully still undeveloped and has been designated as a country park. This place is great for hiking and other nature activies.
At the end of the bus ride is the main square where the steps to the big buddha starts and so do the souvenir shops. The Big Buddha is really big. The statue is made out of bronze and took three years to complete. There is another long flight of stairs to the platform where the Buddha is and we slogged up to the top. It was no longer cool even in this mountain so we were sweating it all the way to the top.
As expected, there were a lot of tourists here since this is a major touirst attraction not to mention that is was a holiday. There were also a lot of devotees making the pilgrimage to the top of the platform. From the platform you can see the Buddha up close. You can also see the surrounding area from the top of this mountain. There is a small temple inside the Buddha where a history of the place was also depicted and also lots of other Buddhist related stuff.
I just love visiting this place, the air is so nice here which is a welcome change from the cigarette smoke and factory smoke I encountered in China. Although now that I have seen the Leshan Big Buddha, I realize the Tian Tan Buddha is no longer as massive as when I first saw it, it is still an amazing sight, it is definitely worth several visits.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/TianTanBigBuddha.kmz}]