Po Lin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery, located on Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are many hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is now the terminus of the cable car ride Ngong Ping Cable...

 Plateau, on Lantau Island

Lantau Island

Lantau Island , based on the old local name of Lantau Peak , is the largest island in Hong Kong, located at the mouth of the Pearl River. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands District of Hong Kong...

, Hong Kong.

The monastery was founded in 1906 by three monks visiting from Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

 and was initially known simply as "The Big Hut" (大茅蓬 Tai Mao Pung). It was renamed to its present name in 1924. The main temple houses three bronze statues of the Buddha – representing his past, present and future lives – as well as many Buddhist scriptures.

Tian Tan Buddha

Tian Tan Buddha

Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of a Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion...

, a giant Buddha statue completed in 1993, is an extension of the monastery.

The Ngong Ping 360

Ngong Ping 360

The Ngong Ping 360 is a tourism project on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The project was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before acquiring the Ngong Ping 360 brand in April 2005...

, consisting of the Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping

Ngong Ping is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are many hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is now the terminus of the cable car ride Ngong Ping Cable...

 village and a gondola lift

Gondola lift

A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...

 running between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping, was built near to the Po Lin Monastery.

This monastery is also famous for making wooden bracelets that are only sold near the Tian Tan Buddha statue.

In 1918, three nuns ordained at this monastery established a private nunnery called Chi Chuk Lam (紫竹林) on Lantau's Lower Keung Hill (下羌山). The nunnery, dedicated to Guanyin. There were about 20 jushi

Householder (Buddhism)

In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch...

and nuns residing there in the 1950s, but now only an elderly abbess remains.