Since 1976, construction of the Tian Tan Big Buddha had been co-ordinated. The first phase of construction commenced in December 1981. On 4 September1986, an agreement was signed and works commenced officially. A model 5 metre in height was made with gypsum and then 202 pieces of bronze were casted according to the model. These bronze pieces were then assembled in the factory and welded together on the spot. The crew has gone through a lot of hurdles in the process of design, casting, transport and assembly. Eventually, the assembly work was completed on 2 December 1989. After that, two years were spent in re-alignment of roads and eventually, on 29 December 1993, the grand inauguration ceremony was held.