The Ngong Ping 360 Rescue Trail — Attraction in Hong Kong

The Ngong Ping Trail (also referred to as the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail) is a scenic 5.7 kilometre hike between Tung Chung and the Ngong Ping Village where you find the landmark Big Buddha Statue and Po Lin Monastery.

The trail more or less follows the route of the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, crossing the Lantau North Country Park while providing very good scenery of the countryside as well as Tung Chung township, Hong Kong International Airport, The South China Sea, HZMB bridge - Hong Kong side and the Big Buddha statue.

The trail is a constant circuit of ascending and descending the hilly landscape on paved steps as well as good condition wooden boards and staircases which zigzag the hillsides. Some of the climbs seem like endless steps which can be quite menacing to your knees so do pace yourself.

Note that while the landscape and natural environment are beautiful here, much of of the trail is exposed to the elements due to the lack of taller trees and shade so do bring a hat and other protective gear against sun exposure and rain. You will want good footwear and plenty of water for this hike as well. The trail is estimated to take around 4 hours if you allow time for stop breaks, photographs. However, fast hikers making minimal stops may be able to finish in around 2.5 hours.

Overall, the Ngong Ping Trail is scenic and challenging, particularly if you take the Tung Chung to Ngong Ping direction, a lot more ups than downs in this direction. Its a good way to spend a half day in the outdoors of...

Lots of wooden stairs, which can get slippery when they're wet. The view in this case is more interesting from the gondola rather than the trail. The older part of the trail leaving the Po Lin Monastery area is nice and feels like a real hiking trail, however the main issue with the Rescue Trail part is that it's just that...a rescue access path constructed without hikers in mind. Forget the extreme up and down stairs (unless that's what you want). There are much better trails (designed to be hiked) in HK than this one. For example, hike up to next door Lantau Peak -- also lots of stairs, but you're rewarded with a beautiful, panoramic view from a...

This is classed as being a fairly difficult walk.

The hike up to the first cable car tower (No.3) involves steep concrete steps. At the top, the sights are just fantastic and you find yourself above the cable cars.

Instead of heading straight, take a right and visit the helicopter landing site for a full view of HK Airport, the 3rd runway construction, the HK-Zhuhai bridge and more.

Return to the main path and go down the first of many wooden steps.

There are very steep sections in places but after the last major tower, the going gets considerably easier and the Buddha becomes visible.

There are no kiosks along the way and the views are...