Chi Lin Nunnery in Hong Kong

We visited the Chi Lin Nunnery in Hong Kong on 30 January 2012.  Chi Lin Nunnery is a large Buddhist temple complex located in Diamond Hill, Kowloon.  The temple complex includes a nunnery and a bunch of Buddha statues.  Those statues are made from gold, clay, wood, and stone.

All buildings in Chi Lin Nunnery are wood frame buildings built without any iron nail.  In the nunnery, there is a display to talk about that traditional Chinese architectural techniques dating from the Tang Dynasty that use special interlocking systems holding wood beams together in place.

Next to Chi Lin Nunnery is the Nan Lian Garden.  This garden was a joint project of the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Hong Kong Government.  Nan Lian Garden is a classical Chinese garden.  The garden and nunnery are connected to each other.  In fact, we entered the garden and walked through the nunnery.

There are many skyscraper apartment complexes around the garden and nunnery.  It is very hard to avoid those skyscrapers in the photos.  Apartments with ocean-view are more costly in general in Hong Kong.  We are wondering if temple-view apartments are more expensive too.

The Nan Lian Garden is extremely photogenic.  Besides that, it is very peaceful.  The garden is well-maintained.










Rocks, buildings, plants, and the lake are put together in a very harmony way.

 It is very hard to imagine that these grand structures were built without any nail.

In the nunnery, lotus flowers bloom in the pond.











 

Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong

On 30 January 2012, we spent a couple of hours to visit the most famous Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong.  This temple is well-known for its accurate fortune-telling.  People from the south Asia took long trip to visit the temple because of that.  In Hong Kong, one is not considered to be Hong Kong citizen if he/she knows nothing about it.

Wong Tai Sin Temple is crowded with believers all year round.  We waited behind a long line to get into the temple.  The believers would light incenses, knee before the main altar, make a wish, and shake a bamboo cylinder containing bamboo sticks until one falls out.  With that stick, one exchanges for a piece of paper with the same number.  Then, the fortune-teller is going to tell you your fortune.  It is nothing like what you see in the fortune-cookie.

The age of believers is of a wide range.  We saw people from very young to very old.

From what we heard, Wong Tai Sin Temple offers wedding ceremonies too.

People are very serious about Wong Tai Sin.  By the time they were leaving the temple, people left with hope.