The Ten Thousand Buddhas

The Ten Thousand Buddhas were high on the list of things to see in Hong Kong. We were left a bit unimpressed.

OK, so climbing a hill, on a hot day, when you're still tired from the flight, is not ideal, but we wouldn't blame the place for that. On the other hand the statues on the way up look generally cheap, then you get to the top where there are indeed many little Buddhas, but it all looks cheap and tacky.If you want to see a nice monument, we'd advise the nunnery or the Big Buddha instead.

The cemetery

Funny thing about the Ten Thousand Buddhas: despite it being among the must see things in Hong Kong, the place is barely signed at all. We mistakenly thought that this big gate was the entrance. In fact it's the entrance to a cemetery, filled with urns (as the Chinese practice cremation).

The Buddhas

Eventually we worked out there weren't any Buddhas where we were (or they'd all been cremated), and we went back down the hill and asked the way to a policeman. In sign language he directed us down an unlikely alley, which lead us to the first Buddhas. By then we were already too hot and tired, and we only had about thirty minutes before the place would close.

We got up top in time to have a look. The monastery is still under construction, as seems common in Asia (this was also the case at the Big Buddha, and in the Batu caves in Malaysia.)

In the background you can see the thousands of little Buddha statues. They look like little plastic toys, each with their individual LED. Great.