Tian Tan Buddha
— — the bronze that watches the South China Sea.
Not only on a wall.
“A 34-metre seated bronze Buddha on the Ngong Ping plateau of Lantau Island, the largest of Hong Kong's outlying islands. The figure was consecrated in 1993 by Po Lin Monastery, faces north toward mainland China, and is reached either by 268 stone steps from the village or by the Ngong Ping 360 cable car from Tung Chung. The mountain weather sets the day.
Tian Tan Buddha, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Tian Tan Buddha, also called the Big Buddha, sits on the Ngong Ping plateau of Lantau Island in Hong Kong's New Territories, about 482 metres above sea level. The seated bronze figure measures 34 metres including its lotus throne, weighs roughly 250 tonnes, and was completed in 1993 after twelve years of construction by Po Lin Monastery and the China Aviation Industry Corporation. The three-tiered altar beneath the statue is modelled on the Temple of Heaven, Tian Tan, in Beijing, which gives the figure its name.
The plateau holds its own weather. At 482 metres above the South China Sea, marine cloud forms over Ngong Ping on most mornings between April and September and burns off by late morning when the trade wind shifts. The figure is sometimes only partly visible from the base of the steps, then suddenly whole. In the dry winter months of December and January the air is clearer and the silhouette of Hong Kong Island is visible to the east.
The statue is reached either by 268 granite steps that climb directly from the Ngong Ping village or by the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, a 5.7-kilometre ride from Tung Chung station on the MTR Tung Chung line. The site is open daily from early morning, with the Po Lin Monastery vegetarian meal hall serving lunch until mid-afternoon. The cable car closes during typhoon signals; the steps stay open in light rain but plateau cloud often closes in by midday.