Hi Everyone,
I want to tell you about the time we went to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery with the children when we were in Hong Kong. We had a family day in Sha Tin which is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories. Its current name was named after the nearby village of Sha Tin Wai which the literal English translation is 'Sand Fields'.
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is a mid-20th century Buddhist temple located in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, at 220 Pai Tau Village. There are no monks that reside in this monastry and is managed solely by laypersons. Both the main temple building and the pagoda are listed as Grade III historic buildings by the Government of Hong Kong.
The construction of this temple began in 1951 and it took six years to finish the complex. The journey up to the monastry is an attraction in itself as it is lined with gold Buddhas along the path, each one has a different unique pose. Even though it's called the 10,000 Buddha monastry there are at least 13,000 Buddhas, if not more.
If you didn't have your phone or Google maps you would struggle to find the entrance to this monastry but my tip would be to first find IKEA from the MTR station and head behind it. As you can see the entrance is not visible from the main road and even when you're walking along the path you have to turn the corner before you can see a glimpse of the Buddhas.
You're probably thinking 'you did not take the kids up there with the pushchair...' but yes we did. We didn't think it was as steep when we were looking it up to visit. It's safe to say, and @sterlingux will agree with me on this, it isn't pushchair or wheelchair friendly but it can be done. Also, the view from the top was definitely worth it.
When I looked at the map I said 'oh we are nearly there, it's just round the corner' to find out I was not correct. There are benches along the way up, there's also a place to stop for refreshments and food half way up. We stopped to rest on one of the benches as we were both tired already, @sterlingux more tired than I was due to him pushing the pushchair with the kids inside.
Our son decided he wanted to walk the rest of the way the up after we had a rest and he enjoyed seeing all the different expressions of thte Buddhas along the way up. He did get a little scared with how steep it was but he bravely walked the rest of the way up while holding my hand.
Pictures don't do this monastry justice, it really is beautiful up there and it's ever so peaceful. We enjoyed a while deserve rest when we reached the top and enjoyed the beautiful view as well as the monastry. There was another section which allowed you to go further up the mountain but we saw how steep the slope was and decided against it as we were so tired. Inside the monastry there is a whole wall full of mini Buddhas, from floor to ceiling, no photos are allowed to be taken inside due to it being a place of worship.
The views on our descent down the mountain was so picturesque, when you're climbing up all you can see are the Buddhas and the mountain but on the way down you can see the city in the background. We went during the week which meant that there wasn't many people or tourists visiting this monastry which meant it was easy for us to utilise the pit stops along the path.
As you can see, the way down with the pushchair was harder than our way up, but it definitely didn't take us as long to get down the mountain. We did get several stares at us and a few comments saying that we were crazy for taking the pushchair up but we don't regret it. The kids enjoyed seeing all the Buddhas as well as enjoying the scenery from the top.
This was one of the most unique places we visited when we were in Hong Kong and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wanted to hike and enjoy the views of Sha Tin. There's plenty of shops at the New Town Plaza which is where the MTR station is and it's where we had our lunch before doing some shopping in the area.
Until next time, stay tuned.
