Tsz Shan Monastery is an Impressive Buddhist Temple funded by Asia’s Richest Man

By Alison Lesley --
29 Apr 2015 --

Now open in Hong Kong, the impressive Tsz Shan Monastery holds towering statues, magnificent architecture, and even bulletproof windows for VIP rooms.

Two minutes after the opening, the bookings were flooded far beyond its fixed 400 – 500 daily visitors. Given the Tsz Shan Monastery exceptionally astonishing facilities, it comes as no surprise that it has been fully booked by well-wishers and visitors who wanted to take part in its historical inauguration.

The new Tsz Shan monastery has the world’s second tallest statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, and it is the largest Guan Yin statue cast in bronze. The statue of the Goddess of mercy is about 76 meters high and overlooks a stunning view that extends to the Hong Kong harbor. The monastery grounds expand 500,000 square feet. The shrine houses a bell tower, lecture hall, a drum tower, while the garden is the home to the Bodhi tree (a sacred fig tree in the Buddhist faith), a meditation path, the Buddhist pine and a pond. There are several grand halls in the newly constructed monastery and one of the halls, houses three ornate Buddhist statues casted in 24-karat gold for people to mediate and discover the endless possibility of Buddhism.

Tsz Shan Monastery is located right next to my village in Tung Tsz and it’s out of this world! #hongkong pic.twitter.com/I14LYJEeH4
— Kit Lee (@StyleSlicker) February 22, 2015

The Tsz Shan monastery was constructed combining the ancient Chinese Buddhist style with the modern architectural design and touches of Japanese Buddhist shrines. The shrine will be open to visitors every day of the week from 9:30 am to 4:00pm but reservations must be made in advance. Tour groups are prohibited, to maintain the peaceful environment.

Another amazing feature of the temple is the bulletproof VIP rooms specifically built to protect the important guests like the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand and other religious and political leaders. One of the rules binding the temple is a no food offerings policy for visitors. Visitors are expected not to be at the location with meat, Joss stick, alcohol, or any other food offerings.

The monastery was built with the fund from Li Ka-Shing, Asia’s richest man according to Bloomberg’s billionaire index last year. He is a businessperson and philanthropist who donated HK$ 1.5 billion – approximately US$ 193.5 million to the building of the Tsz Shan monastery.