Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

This Monastery is amazing and beautiful!
I was greeted with an amazing sight of statues lining the steep path, helped by 431 steps from the base of the hill up to the Monastery, and surprised to find monks not buddhas, each with different expressions, poses and dress. So I must correct everyone regarding the 500 «buddhas» that lines the path up to the monastery. They are life size gilded Arhan statues. Arhan, is the local word for «buddhist monks» who are very senior and can serve the buddhas.
We were climbing the hill on a relatively warm and humid day, so dread to think those who climb in the heat of summer, when temperatures can reach 40 °C, would probably die of heat exhaustion! Definitely, need to remember to carry a few bottles of water with you. By the time we reached the lower level of the monastery (it is built over two levels overlooking Sha Tin), I was glad to find a large dining room of the vegetarian restaurant right in front of us, where we can have a cold bowl of sweet grass jelly dessert, the sweetness of the syrup helped to replace the perspiration from our glowing bodies and the coldness to cool us down.
After suitably cooled we ventured out to the building next door, the main attraction, which was The Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. This temple is amazing as its walls are covered with miniature Buddhas, all unique, all handmade, on 30 shelves (yes, I counted!) rising from the floor to ceiling, each bearing an inscription of the name of its donor. The buildings of the Monastery took eight years to complete, but it took a further ten years to complete all the miniature Buddha statues displayed, and which actually numbered almost 13,000 (in Cantonese words «ten thousand» simply represents a term for an extremely large number). In the centre of this Temple, in a glass case, resides the body of the founder of the Monastery, Rev Yuet Kai, embalmed with lacquer and gold leaf, adorned in robes, and seated by the altar, with a sign that reads, «The Diamond Indestructible Body of Yuet Kai.»
At the opposite end of the Temple, on this large terrace, is the nine storey pagoda and in between is a pavilion housing a large statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Apparently, the pagoda was featured on the HK$ 100 note.
On the upper level, the path leading up is lined with goddesses this time, there are more temples and a turtle pond, and views across to Sha Tin from the waterfall, in front of a large white statue of a Goddess, which looks relatively new.
Opening hours are 9 to 5 every day.

This is definitely a «hidden» gem.
Most guide books I have seen say to follow the signs from Sha Tin MTR station, well I have been here four times and have yet to see these mythical signs. If you go out exit B you will see a bus terminal, turn left as soon as you exit and walk to the end and take the path down the ramp to your right. Follow that along until you get to Pai Tau street (there should be Pai Tau Village on your left as you are walking). Take a left at Pai Tau street and then turn right on Sheung Wo Che Road. Walk to the end of this street, it might look like you are heading nowhere but trust me. At the end there will be loads of greenery surrounded by a netting fence and barbed wire, take the path to your left, follow it and you will soon see the first golden Buddhas lining the uphill path.
Beware of men dressed as monks, there are signs warning you about the scam further up the hill but they seem to congregate at the bottom just before the path actually starts. DO NOT give them money! They are not real monks! I have only seen them once out of my four visits but it does occur.
Now to review the actual sight. The walk up is difficult in the heat but it is fascinating to look at each individual Buddha, not one is the same. There are plenty of little rest areas to sit and take a rest along the way but the walk isn’t too bad. The first monastery level holds the main temple, pagoda and a couple of small temples. There is a small vegetarian café and washrooms (although Asian style). You can usually climb the pagoda to get some views but when we went this time it was closed to it might be hit or miss. Inside the main temple is the preserved body of the founder, Yuet Kai, covered in gold leaf.
Once finished with the lower area, head up a few more steps to the upper part where there is still reconstruction going on but some of the temples have been complete. And there is a very lovely statue (information booklet doesn’t say who it is of but it looks like Tin Hau) next to the waterfall. There are also better views from here if you have a nice clear day.

ADVICE: PLEASE SPRAY YOURSELF DOWN WITH TONS OF BUG SPRAY REPELLENT UNLESS YOU WANT TO LEAVE MAULED ALIVE BY MOSQUITOES AND WHATEVER BUGS THAT BIT ME AND MY SISTER.
Yeah seriously it had to be in all caps because we both got bit so bad it basically ruined half of our trip. Those bites took forever to go away — it didn’t heal until about two weeks later when I got back to the states!
The temple itself is pretty. The road to the top is pretty exhausting so if you have elders please rethink. It’s all steps up, lined with Buddhas on each side. I think it’s worth a visit. There weren’t that many visitors when I went and I think it’s because it’s out of the way.

This is a gem hidden in the city. Literally. It’s challenging to find the front or back way up if you haven’t been before. Let me help you out…
Start at the Sha Tin MTR.
Go down the ramp passing the bus terminus and towards the Home Center. You will be on the bottom level where some buses are stopping. Now you will see a residential kind of looking area and some shops that sell things for the Monastery. The start to the back entrance is through there. Go to the end of the shops and there will be a (not marked at all) path that looks like its going through backyards. Eventually you will see a sign pointing up the path. This is the easier of the 2 ways up!
For the front entrance. Go towards the Home Center. The entrance is between a govt building and the Home Center. There will be some signage once you get really close. This way is a little more difficult, bit you see more Buddha’s on the way.
Now there are so many of them on your way up. Either way up… pause and check them out. No two are the same… some are outright hilarious! When you get up there will be the main Monastery level. Look around have fun. But make sure you go all the way up! The white goddess must be seen!
Also as a bonus you might see monkeys on the way. No feeding them though!
Also this is NOT an active Monastery (no monks live here), and monks do not beg. So any begging monks are frauds…
Have fun!

By my estimations Yuet Kai, the builder of these thousands of Buddhas did not have many friends growing up in his monastery. If he did he wouldn’t have had the time to make so many fake ones! Too harsh? Perhaps. Yuet Kai’s social life aside the man had buckets of talent mixed in with a devotion to his beliefs that provides us with this spectacle today.
I’ve been to this temple once before, near the Sha Tin mtr, and found it quite amazing that I hadn’t gone earlier. The walk up, a little bit strenuous, is just as fascinating as the temple itself. The small path is lined with Buddhas, each one different to the next, all the way to the temple itself. Once at the top there are two options, left to more, miniature Buddhas, or right… don’t go right. I was attacked by monkeys, angry, little monkeys, to the right… never go right. After I was scared away by the monkeys we went left, to the interesting, safe, and peaceful temple. At first I thought they called the place ten thousand Buddhas because it was just some guy that said «Wow… there are thousands of them!» Popular English exaggeration. But there really are thousands upon thousands of them. Over 13,000 if my counting skills are correct… that or Wikipedia.
We spent the rest of the day admiring Yuet Kai’s handy work, taking photos and climbing up a narrow pagoda type building. There are a few little shops there for the numerous tourists that flock to the area, none of which we entered. On the way out we chose a different path, a Buddhaless path that was interesting in its own way with a little local honey farm nearby. The final conclusion being that Yuet Kai legacy is well worth a visit and you can challenge yourself to see how many you can count without messing up!