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| Sam's Exotic Photos of Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong KongNew Territories, N.T., NT, Hong Kong, Fanling, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, hiking, rural, landscape photography, nature photography, pictures of people, exotic travel, adventure travel, nature photography, landscape photos, photo journeys, photos of people, photography, images
Once famous for cultivating incense, Sha Tin is a budding satellite town, with a population approaching 640,000. Fewer than 13km (8 miles) north of Tsim Sha Tsui, it's also home to a modern horse racetrack, as well as a huge shopping mall called the New Town Plaza, located next to the Sha Tin KCR Station. Most interesting for the visitor here, however, is the Temple of 10.000 Buddhas, located on a hill west of the Sha Tin railway station. It takes about a half hour's energetic walk to reach the actual monastery; first you have to climb more than 400 twisting steps, flanked by gold-colored statues. The temple was established in the 1950s by a monk named Yuet Kai, who wrote 98 books on Buddhism. He's still at the temple--well, actually, his body is still there. He's been embalmed and covered in gold leaf and sits behind a glass case. In attendance are more Buddha images than you've probably ever seen gathered in one place. In fact, despite the monastery's name, there are more than 10,000 I've been told, with 13,000 tiny statues lining the walls inside the temple in addition to the 300 - 400 lining the steps up and down and in the courtyard, and no two are exactly alike. Also on the grounds are a nine-story pink pagoda and a very simple vegetarian dining hall. The temple affords a good view of Sha Tin's high-rise housing estates and the surrounding mountains.
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