Hikes around Lantau Peak from the Ngong Ping plateau, home of Hong Kong’s Big Buddha
- Some of Lantau’s trails make for challenging treks, but you can start well above sea level at Ngong Ping, accessible by bus or cable car
- From there you can scale Lantau Peak, the second highest in Hong Kong, or wander its slopes, for views of China, Hong Kong Island and the South China Sea
It can be enjoyable to hike up and over hills, but there may be times when you prefer to start from somewhere that is already well above sea level – particularly once the summer heat has arrived. Somewhere, for example, like Ngong Ping, an upland basin on Lantau Island.
Ngong Ping can be reached on one of Hong Kong’s most scenic bus rides, from either Mui Wo (bus No 2) or Tung Chung (bus No 23), both of which deliver views of hillsides, shorelines and Lantau Peak soaring above the Shek Pik Reservoir. Buses terminate beside Ngong Ping Village, a purpose-built tourist attraction.
Reaching the edge of the wood, turn right to the Wisdom Path and you may wonder whether it really was “wise” to have imported the trunks of 38 trees from Africa, on which to carve Buddhist scripture, and array them, starkly upright, on a patch of cleared ground.
