Hong Kong Tem­ples are known world­wide for their vari­ety and unique char­ac­ter. Any vis­it should include these 5 tem­ples, in no par­tic­u­lar order. My favorite Hong Kong Tem­ple is prob­a­bly the Ten Thou­sand Bud­dhas Monastery, quirky, beau­ti­ful, peace­ful and with great views!

1. Nan Lian Garden & Chi Lin Nunnery

An icon­ic gold pago­da and bright red bridge in a per­fect­ly man­i­cured Chi­nese Clas­si­cal Gar­den. Nan Lian Gar­den is a qui­et peace­ful place and per­haps the most beau­ti­ful pub­licly acces­si­ble gar­den in all of Hong Kong. To top it all off it’s free! If I lived near here I’d vis­it every day.

Chi Lin Nun­nery across the bridge is built entire­ly of cypress wood and doesn’t con­tain a sin­gle nail, instead, it was built using an inter­lock­ing wood sys­tem to hold it all togeth­er. It’s also the largest hand­made wood build­ing in the world.

Get­ting to the Nian Lian Garden

Take the MTR, Dia­mond Hill Sta­tion, Exit C2 and fol­low the signs. It’s about a 5‑minute walk.

Hours: 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM Daily
Free Admis­sion

2. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

Ascend a wind­ing stair­case lined by gold­en, life-sized stat­ues of Bud­dhist men, each a unique char­ac­ter with a unique facial expres­sion. The artist who cre­at­ed them was clear­ly quite cre­ative and as you ascend the 400+ steps to the Ten Thou­sand Bud­dhas Monastery, the gold­en stat­ues seem to get more and more…bizarre. At the top of the stairs is a beau­ti­ful pago­da, more Bud­dhist stat­ues, and 5 tem­ples, includ­ing a “Ten Thou­sand Bud­dhas Tem­ple” with over 12,800 unique­ly dif­fer­ent, hand-craft­ed Bud­dhist statues.

The Ten Thou­sand Bud­dhas Monastery (Man Fat Tsz) is actu­al­ly a series of tem­ples and a pago­da and not a monastery at all. It’s a quirky and inter­est­ing place and one that is slight­ly off the main tourist cir­cuit. You’ll def­i­nite­ly find for­eign­ers here but it’s noth­ing like the crowds at some of the more famous sights such as the Tian Tan Bud­dha or The Vic­to­ria Peak Tram.

Get­ting to the Ten Thou­sand Bud­dhas Monastery

Check out my arti­cle here on how to get to the 10,000 Bud­dhas Monastery with step by step directions.

Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Daily
Free Admis­sion

3. Man Mo Temple

The air is heavy with incense smoke, large coils hang from the ceil­ing. One of the old­est tem­ples in Hong Kong. A qui­et, calm atmos­phere, in con­trast to the bus­tle and ritzy streets of Cen­tral Hong Kong. Man Mo Tem­ple on Hol­ly­wood Road is the largest and most famous Man Mo Tem­ple in Hong Kong.

Man Mo Tem­ple is ded­i­cat­ed to the God of Lit­er­a­ture (Man) and the God of War (Mo) Lit­er­al­ly trans­lat­ed “Man” means “Civ­il” and “Mo” Means “Mil­i­tary”.
Man Cheong, The God of lit­er­a­ture, clothed in red, car­ries a cal­lig­ra­phy brush while Mo Tai the God of War, dressed in green, holds a sword.

Incense coils and sticks are burned to feed the spir­its and bring good for­tune. It gives the whole place a mys­tic ethe­re­al feel, like some­thing out of a kung fu film.

Get­ting to the Man Mo Temple

On the MTR take the She­ung Wan stop, Exit A2. Head up-hill to Hol­ly­wood Road.

For a more detailed descrip­tion of the Man Mo Tem­ple and how to get there check out the full post here.

Hours: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Daily
Free Admis­sion

You’re in Cen­tral! Click here for some more free and inter­est­ing things to see.

4. The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery (Lantau Island)

The 112 foot Tian Tan Bud­dha sits atop a hill dom­i­nat­ing the view and bless­ing the peo­ple of the land. One of the largest seat­ed Bud­dha stat­ues in the world and one of Hong Kong’s most pop­u­lar attractions.

Ascend the 268 steps to get a clos­er view of this impos­ing yet hum­ble stat­ue and take in the views, includ­ing Po Lin Monastery amongst the trees below.

Pro Tip: Get there ear­ly in the morn­ing to avoid the crowds. Try to avoid the week­ends and pub­lic hol­i­days for few­er peo­ple. See the Big Bud­dha first and then go to the Po Lin Monastery after.

Ngong Ping Vil­lage is pret­ty much a tourist vil­lage. If you want to see it go after you vis­it the Bud­dha and the Monastery.

How to get to the Big Bud­dha on Lan­tau Island

Take the MTR to Tung Chung Sta­tion, Exit B. From here there are two options. The cable car (210 HKD ~$26 round-trip) or take the bus to Ngong Ping Vil­lage (17.4 HKD ~$2 each way)

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car
Sched­ule: Week­days 10:00am – 6:00pm Week­ends & Pub­lic Hol­i­days 9:00am – 6:30pm
Round Trip Adult Fare: 210 HKD (~$26 USD)
One Way Adult Fare: 145 HKD (~$18 USD)
Take the 25 min cable car with 360 views for the best experience.

Bus
For the bud­get con­scious trav­el­er take the bus 17.4 HKD (~$2.2 each way)
Exit Tung Chung Sta­tion Exit B, take Bus 23 from Tung Chung Town Cen­tre. It takes about 45–50 min­utes depend­ing on the stops.

Hours: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Free Admis­sion

5. Wong Tai Sin Temple

Uncom­mon to most Chi­nese tem­ples the pri­mar­i­ly Taoist Wong Tai Sin Tem­ple is home to 3 reli­gions (Tao­ism, Bud­dhism, and Con­fu­cian­ism). A beau­ti­ful and col­or­ful tem­ple with gar­dens behind, it’s also one of Hong Kong’s most pop­u­lar temples.

The Wong Tai Sin Tem­ple is well-known as a wish-grant­i­ng or prayer answer­ing tem­ple and pret­ty much always has peo­ple. Don’t miss the beau­ti­ful ponds and gar­dens behind the tem­ple. Anoth­er quite, peace­ful place amongst the crazi­ness of Kowloon.

Get­ting to Wong Tai Sin Temple

Take the MTR to Wong Tai Sin MTR Sta­tion, Exit B2 and fol­low the signs and crowds (it’s not far from the exit).

Hours: 7:00 am — 5:30 PM
Free Admis­sion

More Hong Kong Attractions

Click here for more ideas on what to do in Hong Kong!