Our second morning in Hong Kong, we took a taxi to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, which takes you to the Po Lin Monastery, home of the Tian Tan Buddha. Ngong Ping 360 bills itself as “The world’s most amazing cable car experience,” and it is certainly worthy of that tagline. It’s the longest bi-cable ropeway in Asia at a total length of 5.7 kilometers. Along the way you are surrounded with incredible views of Lantau island, Hong Kong Airport, and of course the buddha as you get near the peak.
You alight from the cable car in the charming Ngong Ping village, which is mostly eateries and souvenir shops spanning from the cable car terminal to the monastery gates.
After a stroll through the village, we reached the gates of the monastery.
Then it’s up a lengthy staircase to the actual temple and the buddha. Yes, I had to rest a couple of times on the way up!
You can go inside the building that supports the buddha, but photographs are not allowed. You can see information on how the project was constructed, and there are several shops inside that sell souvenirs. Then we headed back down the stairs to the lower grounds. From there, it’s a short walk to the Path of Wisdom, a lovely nature trail that leads to a monument of wood columns with various carved messages.
The stroll back also offered some more great views of the buddha.
We did a little more shopping in the village and took photos. Seeing We Bare Bears with the buddha in the background is an interesting juxtaposition.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Ngong Ping village and take the cable car back down.
If you’re not scared of heights, check out my video of the cable car descent here.
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What a fantastic trip. I love all the photos. I felt as if I was there.
Thank you for sharing.
What a great spot! Thanks for sharing!