Mountainous adventure complete it's time to escape the big city and head for Hong Kong’s other jungle; The New Territories. To make your way off the Peak; take the number 15 bus, this departs from underneath the Peak Galleria, to Admiralty MTR station. From here take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui, where you can transfer to the regional KCR west rail at Hung Hom – destination Sha Tin. At the end of the 30 minute journey to Sha Tin awaits the Ten Thousand Buddahs Monastery, which is visible, and just a short walk from the station. This is undoubtedly the most impressive temple in Hong Kong, and the temple is actually underselling itself as in reality it boasts 12,800 miniature Buddha statues and images.
On arrival bad news awaits via a 431 step climb up to the temple, and unlike the rest of Hong Kong there’s no escalator. At the top you’ll find the temple entrance guarded by a number of gods you wouldn’t like to meet in a back alley. Once you’ve negotiated your way past these guardians you’ll enter the complex, flanked on all sides by jungle. A beautiful red and gold pagoda reaching nine storeys in the air is at the heart of the complex, and despite being built relatively recently, 1960s, is as beautiful an example as you will see in Hong Kong. The main temple hosts the 13’000 gold and black Buddah, which are all around a foot high and posed in different positions; collectively they impressively fill a domed room nearly 30ft tall. Weekends and festivals see hundreds of locals make pilgrimages to the temple to worship their ancestors - although the place can be claustrophobically packed, the sights and smells of incense and paper being burnt in offerings makes it more than worth it.
If the physical exertion has eaten into your lunch, food options at the complex are limited. A few snack stalls offer reasonably appetising vegetarian food, however if you can wait until dinner, a Chinese treat awaits.
