Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is a hillside Buddhist complex in Sha Tin that actually contains over 13,000 Buddha statues — lining the staircase to the monastery, filling the main hall, and occupying every available niche and shelf in a display of devotional excess that makes other temples look restrained. The monastery was founded in the 1950s by Yuet Kai, a monk whose embalmed body (covered in gold leaf) is displayed in the main hall, sitting in a glass case in the lotus position.

The approach is the experience. A path of 431 steps climbs the hillside from the Sha Tin station area, lined on both sides by life-sized golden Buddha statues — each in a different pose, each with a different expression, and each donated by a different worshipper. The effect of climbing through hundreds of golden figures, each slightly different, while the hillside vegetation closes in around you, is simultaneously spiritual and surreal.

The monastery sits at the top of the hill in a cluster of pagodas, halls, and courtyards that provide views across the Sha Tin valley to the surrounding mountains. The main hall, with its thousands of miniature Buddha statues arranged in floor-to-ceiling shelving, is overwhelming in its accumulation — the repetition of the Buddha image in thousands of variations creates a visual mantra that is either meditative or dizzying. The monastery is free, reached by a 20-minute climb from the Sha Tin MTR station, and provides one of the most unusual religious experiences in Hong Kong.