I feel extremely blessed for the number of places I have had the opportunity to experience as a result of my career. However, on my many domestic and international business trips, it is quite rare I have the opportunity to explore a destination during my personal time. So you can imagine my excitement when the stars aligned last month and my colleague, Carly Allen, and I ended up in Hong Kong for the weekend. 

With little discussion, we decided to spend our Saturday visiting the Tian Tan Buddha statue, popularly called the Big Buddha. As is often the case with business travel, we did nothing to plan for our personal outing. Busy throughout the week with meetings and correspondence with our colleagues back home, we woke up Saturday morning ready to go with very little information on how to get there. 

Fortunately for us, it was quite simple. Our concierge at the Conrad Hong Kong laid out our route, and we were on our way. The Conrad is directly connected to the Admiralty MRT Station. From Admiralty we took the Blue Line one stop to Central. It is a bit of a walk indoors from Central to Hong Kong Station, but it is very clearly marked. We traveled on the Orange Line, which took us to its final stop, Tung Chung, where our journey to the Big Buddha began. It is worth noting this same line goes to Hong Kong Disneyland, so travelers can simply follow Mickey’s ears and find their way!

When we arrived at Tung Chung, we walked right into a square with shops and restaurants. This area no doubt caters to those on their way to and from Tian Tan. As it was a sunny day, we grabbed a bite and sat at a table in the square. Once we were ready, we made our way, simply following the crowd, to the cable car ticketing office.  

We had been warned the line would be long, and in fact it was. It took about an hour to get to the front. Here we selected the crystal cabin cable car with a see-through glass floor on the way up and the regular cable car on the way back. We learned on our return the crystal car is not just about the very cool experience of the glass floor; it also reduces time spent waiting in line, so it’s well worth springing for both ways if it is a busy day.

The ride up was much longer than either of us had expected, lasting approximately 15–20 minutes. The scenery was beautiful as we crossed over multiple peaks in the mountains. The glass floor was a bit scary at first, even for those without a fear of heights, but it was an experience I would recommend not missing.

At last we arrived at the top. A small village of stores and restaurants lined the walkway to the Big Buddha, obviously catering exclusively to tourists, but it wasn’t so overwhelming that it took away from the peacefulness of our surroundings.

As we approached the stairs to the Buddha, I was struck by its sheer size. Completed in 1993, the Buddha stands 112 feet tall and weighs 280 tons. It is the world’s tallest outdoor bronze Buddha. It was built here, next to Po Lin Monastery, and has become the symbolic center of Buddhism in Hong Kong.   

I couldn’t take enough pictures of Tian Tan or the Six Devas and their offerings surrounding the statue. Not one photo captured the experience of standing there in that moment. As we made our way back to the cable car station, we stopped in a few shops and grabbed a snack. The line on the way back was a bit of a wait; as mentioned before, the crystal cabin would have been a better choice. However, the delay caused us to be riding high in the sky just as the sun was setting, and that was yet another experience I wouldn’t want to miss. 

For all travelers to Hong Kong, a visit to Tian Tan is a must. I have to say it was possibly the best non-business experience I have had on a business trip.

— Danielle Hudena Pitonyak, executive vice president