Wednesday, September 6th – Heritage Tour and Buddha Temple
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Waking early, we headed down to the restaurant for a quick breakfast. The restaurant had an omelette chef who prepared made-to-order, which we took advantage of. The restaurant was quite pleasant, although breakfast was not terribly exotic, just the usual staples.
We finished up breakfast and headed down to the lobby to meet for the ‘The Heritage Tour’, which was a tour of various heritage sites in what is known as the ‘New Territories’, part of the peninsula between mainland China and Kowloon.
First, a little history lesson; The New Territories are an area which were leased by the British Government for 99 years, ending in 1997. It is often misunderstood that Britain leased Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, but in actuality Britain held claim to both locations in perpetuity, as part of the spoils of war (from the Opium wars).
What makes the New Territories different from other regions in the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) is partly its lack of modern development. As a result, the New Territories contain some of the region’s oldest villages and most of what is left of the region’s heritage and history. Our tour took us north, deep into the New Territories to a collection of small local villages and temples.
The Heritage Tour[1]
We were collected by our tour bus at the hotel and made our way back towards Lantau island. Our tour guide had an exceptional grasp of the English language (a luxury we did not fully appreciate at the time) and she was very well versed in Hong Kong lore and legend.
Tai Fu Tai Mandarin’s Mansion/ Fan Tin Village
“Located in San Tin[2], Tai Fu Tai is an opulent stately residence built in 1865 by a senior Man clan member who achieved high grades in the Imperial Chinese Civil Service Examinations and was bestowed the title of Tai Fu (mandarin) by the Qing Emperor.
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The extravagantly designed interior boasts three courtyards and is a striking example of how high-ranking officials once lived. The visit also includes a short walk into Fan Tin Village; the houses still retain their historic architecture, bearing testimony to the historical and social developments of the area over the past centuries.”
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One of the few remaining communal villages in the region, our first stop was certainly very down to Earth. You might say it was a bit like travelling to China’s answer to Yass or Gundagai – a small rural village.
The Mansion in question is notably 19th century and had particularly interesting artwork. Despite the ravages of time and the likelihood of vandals damaging the property, it remains in pretty decent condition.
There were still golden highlights on some of the doors, and the Mansion itself was remarkably cool. Evidently, this is by design – the house is built along a central corridor which is blocked by a “spirit door” which prevents evil spirits from directly entering the house.
The teenage girls would live above the courtyard so that they could look down on potential suitors. This area opened to the main hall, which constituted the main living area and formal sitting rooms. Some original furniture had survived, so we were able to view some of the furnishings as they would have been during the Mansion’s heyday.
What was particularly remarkable was the kitchen area. A giant steel wok rested over a semi-circle which would have had a fire lit underneath for cooking. There were many additional rooms, although I won’t go into detail here.
The village was quaint, but fairly unremarkable. It did allow us time to purchase some water and observe day-to-day life.
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Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall/ Lo Wai Walled Village
“Lung Yeuk Tau in Fanling is home to one of the five indigenous clans of Hong Kong – the Tangs. Visit the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, which honours the Tang Lineage, including a Sung dynasty princess and her husband.
Built in the early 16th century, the exquisitely decorated three-hall building is still used for annual rituals and festival celebrations. Today it remains the cradle of clan activities and the symbol of the clan’s lineage. The structure was declared a protected monument in 1997. Nearby is the Lo Wai Walled Village, the first walled village built by the Tang clan, and the site was also declared a monument in 1997.”
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The ancestral hall was also quite interesting, and not far from the Mansion. Traditionally, used to teach children in the village (martial arts in particular), it also formed the ancestral home for a clan of local Chinese for many generations dating back to before the first Opium war; back to a time when China was very much a monarchy and governed by a feudal system.
There used to be many ancestral homes which formed the backbone of local communities. There was an (obviously staged) martial arts lesson in progress as we entered.
In the hall are shrines dedicated to famous members of the clan, in this case a former daughter of the emperor himself who was rescued by a member of the family and later married into the family.
As a general rule, usually only the males were honoured, however one of imperial birth deserved her own special remembrance.
Adjacent to the hall is the walled village of Lo Wai which again, is a feudal village which, through necessity, erected large fortified brick walls to protect the villagers from raids by pirates or bandits.
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The village was somewhat unremarkable with the exception of the fortifications themselves. We did get some bemused stares from the locals as we inspected their village.
Man Mo Temple/ Tai Po Market
Dedicated to the deities Man (Literature) and Mo (Martial Arts), the Man Mo temple[3] in Tai Po was built in the style of a central walled compound to emphasis seclusion. Its construction in 1892 marked the founding of Tai Po New Market, a traditional Chinese bazaar selling a dazzling variety of fresh produce, seafood, dried goods and daily household necessities.
Man Mo Temple has also served as a community centre since its founding. Within the temple walls more than a century ago, defiant villagers chose to oppose Britain’s 99-year lease of New Territories, sparking a five-day "war" that failed to avert the area falling under British control.
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Without a doubt, this part of the tour was by far the best. Our next stop took us north into the slightly larger Tai Po community.
We were let off the bus and directed towards the temple, which is somewhat hidden by the busy businesses surrounding it.
We spent some time in the temple admiring the structure and the many coils of slow burning incense (joss sticks, for good luck), which give the temple a very mystical feel.
Doubtless, the temple was designed to be a discrete place of worship, a fairly small enclosure with an open roof to allow the incense to waft up into the welcoming sky.
There was an array of gilded furniture, detailed artwork engraved on the walls and the temple was paved – roughly in the exposed areas but more carefully in the deeper recesses (the undercover areas).
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Next to the temple was a local food market which sold just about everything you could think of – and probably many things you’d prefer not to!
We did buy a few things to try, with some very surprising results.
Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees In the Lan Tsuen Valley
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The two famous banyan trees are a favourite with local villagers who come to burn joss sticks and incense papers hoping their wishes come true. During the Chinese New Year, many Hong Kong people make a pilgrimage to this spot to make their Chinese New Year wishes. Participate in this tradition and your wishes may come true.
The last few stops on our tour couldn’t match the Man Mo temple in terms of “wow factor” or ambience, but did provide us with an opportunity to write our wishes on scrolls and place them within a wishing tree. The original tree was struck by lightning and nearly died. Locals managed to keep it upright, though the scrolls added by locals and tourists are taken down nightly to allow the tree to recover.
Our final stop was a funny one – a modernized public restroom which was adjacent to some sort of obstacle course. After this final stop, we were returned to the hotel back in Kowloon.
The heritage tour was interesting, certainly one of the few options if you want to see some real Chinese history in the Hong Kong region.
The areas we visited are certainly far off the tourist map, however the best locations were the temple, Mansion and the ancestral hall.
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After we had returned to the Hotel, we decided to head to the township of Sha Tin in the New Territories.
Our destination was the monastery of 10,000 Buddhas (which had, 10,000 Buddha statues), high in the hills but not far from a local transit station.
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We walked by foot from the hotel up Nathan road, past the notorious “Chungking Mansions” and east towards the Kowloon-Canton Railroad (KCR), to the station called Hung Hom.
We took the train north to Sha Tin which took about 20 minutes or so. Once we arrived at the station we had but to simply follow the posted signs towards the northwest. At one point we did get lost – the signs simply disappeared – however we eventually found our way to the correct destination.
We picked our way through the streets of Sha Tin, and worked our way up the side of the hill. We started to pass by the golden Buddha statues on our steep ascent – it was quite strenuous. Once we reached the top, we found many more Buddhas within the monastery.
Amazing statues adorned the temple including some (inset) which were very strange!
The monastery itself struck me far less as a place of worship (actually no monks live there), but more as an attraction, and some of the statues where simply out of this world.
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We stopped and bought a bottle of water ($8 HKD) because we were really, really dehydrated.
As we had discovered upon landing, Hong Kong is as humid as Singapore and Taipei, and physical activity (such as climbing 1,000 steps) takes a certain amount of effort and perspiration.
The top of the hill contains the monastery proper, and it is quite surprising. There is a large pagoda and several rooms containing golden statues as well as a main room which was about two stories high and contained floor-to-wall buddhas of various sizes.
Outside in the main area, there were various non-Buddha statues (see inset) including a large blue dragon and other Chinese statues.
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Once we had satisfied our curiosity, we started heading back to the KCR station (on the way we observed wild monkeys!) and headed to our next destination: Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is an interesting and perhaps mandatory stop for anyone traveling to Hong Kong. It is essentially where the locals shop. You can make the best deals and find the greatest variety of items for sale. It is also a place to be weary, since it is home to the notorious Chinese Triads, though at no time did we feel unwelcome or in any danger.
We headed down to Argyle Street trying to locate an Internet café (I had forgotten to bring notes on the best Camera dealers in Mong Kok). We eventually found a location and I was able to read my email.
Afterwards we snacked at a nearby Delifrance while we obtained our bearings. Eventually we found our way to Wing Shing Photo Suppliers. Here I was able to purchase an 18-54mm Zuiko Lens for my Olympus E-500 at a decent price.
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We then made our way back to the Hotel for our next tour, which was a Victoria harbour cruise and seafood dinner on Hong Kong Island.
The tour departed from the hotel, and we were taken down to the harbour, where the Star ferries depart. We boarded the ship which took us on a lap of the harbour, allowing us to take in the island and the high rise buildings. We met some fellow Australians and Rob taught them how to use their digital camera.
The cruise was pleasant, but somewhat unremarkable since we weren’t given much information or entertainment.
We probably would have had just as good a vantage point on the Star Ferry, albeit we probably wouldn’t have seen as much of the harbour from the water.
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Our ferry docked back at Kowloon, and we were given some free time along the harbour side to experience Chinese cinema’s equivalent of the Hollywood walk of stars.
Famous actors and actresses from Chinese film are honoured in the same fashion as in Hollywood (including the hand prints in concrete!). We also took photos with the life scale statue dedicated to Bruce Lee, the most famous Chinese martial arts actor in Chinese film history.
Later, we re-joined the tour and were driven across to Hong Kong island. We were directed through a number of corridors at a Chinese version of Fisherman’s Wharf – complete with authentic seafood restaurants, most sporting huge fish tanks and HUGE live fish.
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At dinner, Toni made a crucial error in mistaking a large green chilli for capsicum. We frantically tried to ask our genial Chinese hosts for any dairy product – milk, cheese etc. – but to not avail, we couldn’t defeat the language barrier!
After dinner, which was not terribly different from a Chinese meal you would have back home, we were returned to the hotel where we called it a night.
Our second day was scheduled to be very, very interesting and, above all – long.
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[1] Selected Information (italics) from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/package/hongkong/12.htm