Po Lin Monastery

The scent reaches you first. Incense drifts across the courtyard, sweet and woody. Somewhere inside, a bell sounds once and slowly fades. Red pillars hold up curved roofs of gold and green. This is Po Lin Monastery, a place of prayer on the high plateau of Lantau Island. Monks in robes cross the open stone, unhurried, while visitors stand still and take in the colour and the smoke.

The monastery sits at Ngong Ping, in the green hills of western Hong Kong. It began in 1906. Three monks travelled here from the mainland and built a simple hut on the quiet plateau. At first they called it the Big Hut. The place was remote and hard to reach. To come here then meant a long journey by boat and a climb on foot, far from the crowded harbour below.

In 1924 the monastery took a new name. It became Po Lin, which means Precious Lotus. The lotus is an important flower in Buddhism. It grows up out of muddy water, yet it opens clean and bright above the surface. For the monks, the name held a teaching. A clear mind, they believed, can rise in the same way above a troubled world.

Over the years the monastery grew. Simple buildings gave way to grand halls with tiled roofs and carved beams. Today the site is large, and on weekends it fills with visitors. Yet morning and evening, the monks still gather to chant. Their low voices fill the main hall and drift out across the courtyards. The sound carries far in the early light, before the crowds arrive.

Step into the main shrine. Inside sit three large statues of the Buddha, side by side. They represent the Buddha of the past, the present, and the future. Their faces are calm and covered in gold. In front of them, candles burn low and offerings of fruit are laid out on the altar. People stand before the three figures with their heads bowed, holding incense in both hands.

The air inside is thick with incense smoke. Visitors place sticks of incense in tall holders and bow three times toward the altar. Some kneel on flat cushions to pray. The light is soft and golden, and it catches the gold of the statues. Carved dragons twist along the painted beams above, and red lanterns hang in long, even rows from the ceiling.

Behind the main hall, the ground rises toward a newer building. This is the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Its walls are lined with countless small golden figures, each one a Buddha in its own small niche. Standing in the centre of the room, you are surrounded on every side by the same calm face, repeated again and again. The effect is quiet and overwhelming at once.

Po Lin is also well known for its food. The monastery runs a kitchen that serves only vegetarian meals. No meat is used, in keeping with Buddhist practice. Visitors buy a ticket and sit together at shared tables. The dishes are simple: fresh vegetables, tofu, steamed rice, and clear soup. Many people climb the mountain for this meal alone, and eat it slowly as part of the visit.

Just across the open ground stands the giant bronze Buddha on its own hill. The monastery and the statue belong together. The monks helped bring the great figure to Ngong Ping, and it was finished in 1993. From the monastery courtyard, you can look up and see it seated against the sky, calm above the steps. Many visitors walk between the two in a single afternoon.

Walk the edges of the grounds and you find quieter corners. There are small gardens with flowers and ponds. Stone paths lead away under the trees. Prayer flags and lanterns move in the wind. Away from the main halls, the noise of visitors fades, and you can hear birds, the wind, and the soft knock of wood on wood as a monk passes by.

The way into the monastery passes through a tall gate. Beyond it, a wide flight of steps climbs toward the main hall. Pilgrims have walked this approach for many years. Some pause at the gate to bow before they enter. In doing so, they leave the ordinary world behind them at the threshold, and step into a space set apart for prayer and quiet.

The mountain weather shapes each visit. On clear days the roofs shine in the sun and the gold gleams. On misty days the halls seem to sit inside a cloud, soft and grey. The monastery has stood through more than one hundred years of such days. It has grown from a single hut into one of the main centres of Buddhism in all of Hong Kong.

Before you go, stand quietly in the courtyard for a moment. Watch the incense smoke rise and bend in the still air. Listen for the single note of the bell. People have come to this plateau to pray for generations, in good weather and in bad. The monastery simply continues, calm and patient, holding its small flame of quiet high on the mountain.