Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery

Today’s expedition was just seven stops away on the MTR (Mass Transit Railway, Hong Kong’s uber-modern and efficient underground system). We got off at Diamond Hill station and within a few minutes were at the entrance to Nan Lian Garden.

The Garden is a 35,000 square metre public park designed and built by the Chi Lin Nunnery and opened eight years ago. It was built in the classical style of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and the hills, water features, rocks, plants and timber buildings all reflect the principles of Tang landscaping and architecture. It aims to be a haven of serenity and tranquillity – although it is surrounded by several high-density, high-rise housing estates!

In fact, the story of today’s visit is the amazing way that Hong Kong builds cultural oases in the midst of its urban desert.

For example, turn a corner and there is a colourful pagoda set in the middle of a small lake.

Stand back and you will notice several twenty-first century concrete ‘pagodas’ rearing up from a nearby housing estate.

A path winds through the garden, passing old trees trimmed into fantastic shapes like huge bonsai, ancient rocks moulded over time into bizzare shapes, lakes with monster goldfish, fountains and waterfalls.

Every time you want to take a photograph of something, like this tranquil scene at the end of a lake, you must frame it very carefully.

 - Or else the concrete towers of the twenty-first century will intrude!

We passed a large waterfall and beside it a water mill with a wheel turning slowly. 

Looking closer at the 'waterfall' we noticed that it concealed a restaurant! Behind the falling water were tables of people enjoying a vegetarian lunch... 

Towards the end of the route there was a little museum of rocks and a beautiful, high quality gift shop.

Then it was time to leave the Garden. We passed the pagoda once more, and took a photo from the other side.

And one showing it in its surroundings...

Leaving the Garden, we walked up an overpass and into the grounds of Chi Lin Nunnery, the Buddhist complex responsible for managing the Garden. It's a huge operation, including a nunnery, temple halls, hospital, visitors' hostels, vegetarian restaurant and gift shop. To begin with, there is this impressive gatehouse which has its own cedar halls housing massive statues of Buddhist deities (unfortunately, there was a strict 'no photos' rule concerning the interior of all the halls in the complex).

Going through the gatehouse, the entire complex opened out, with the main building, a large temple, directly ahead. 

Walking to the main temple we passed yet another museum of bizarre and weird boulders...

The nunnery was founded eighty years ago but was rebuilt in the 1990s based on traditional Tang architecture. It is famous for the the extensive use of wood - without the use of nails (instead it uses wooden dowels and bracket work to hold the 228,000 pieces of timber together). The sheer amount of wood used is impressive, it is warm in colour, polished to a rich mahogany. The nunnery itself is well situated according to feng shui principles; back against a mountain and facing the sea.   

The main temple comes into view. Its main hall is spectacular, wood paneled with 18 cedar columns to hold up the roof - no mean feat since the clay roof tiles weigh 176 tons! But it is the statues that hold the attention. They are spectacular; huge, golden, gleaming, rearing up towards the high intricately-carved ceiling. In the centre is the largest statue, the first Buddha, known as Sakyamuni, seated on a golden lotus throne, with two lesser gilt statues on each side of him. I gazed at it for quite a while, thinking that it was probably a good idea that photography was banned, a digital image could not do justice to the image before me. Mind you, I was tempted...but I behaved and kept the camera in my pocket.   

Then it was time to leave and take one last photographic record of the Hong Kong paradox; the juxtaposition of the spirit and concrete, the nunnery and its garden surrounded by the city, a part of it - but apart from it.

Kowloon Walled City Park: Memorial to an Embarrassment

I visited Hong Kong in the 1970s and lived there for three years at the end of the 1980s, years before the Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1993-94. However, the City was not the sort of place a tourist could just wander into and it was definitely not promoted by the Hong Kong Tourism Authority; it had a well-deserved reputation for squalor, vice and danger to life and limb.

Originally a small coastal fort, it was excluded from the New Territories land that was leased to the British in 1899. As a consequence, it remained part of China proper, although situated in urban Kowloon (all other parts of which were) administered by the Hong Kong colonial authority. The British either ignored it or treated it as a harmless curiosity; the mainland Chinese authorities did the same. When the Hong Kong colonial authorities tried to take it over in 1948 their action caused riots in mainland China, so they pursued a ‘hands off’ policy thereafter.

The consequences were that the city was completely unregulated. Buildings were constructed without planning for safety, fire or health. Hong Kong’s police, postal and other authorities could not enter while unlicensed doctors and dentists flourished – and most of Hong Kong’s fishballs were made there, in questionable sanitary conditions. There were open sewers and buildings were stacked on top of one another so that little daylight reached ground level.

The Walled City’s population grew significantly after the second world war and in the 1950s triad groups established a stranglehold on the city, controlling drugs, gambling, prostitution and other vices. The 350 or so buildings in the city were built with poor foundations, little or no utilities and the average apartment size was only 250 square feet. By the mid-1980s it had a population estimated at 33,000 with a population density of 1.25 million inhabitants per square kilometre (for comparison, Mong Kok’s current very high population density is about 130,000 persons per square kilometre…).

By the 1970s the police had had enough and staged massive, repeated raids into the city to pursue criminals. Soon, other public authorities also began to enter the city to provide services and assess the situation. By 1987 the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese governments decided to end the embarrassment of this squalid city-within-a-city by tearing it down and replacing it with a park.

The Kowloon Walled City Park, with its sanitised layout, manicured shrubbery and Disneyesque classical pagodas could hardly be further from the City it commemorates.

There was little left of the original city after the bulldozers had finished. The Japanese had already demolished the city wall to extend the Kai Tak airport runway, half a mile away, during world war two.

remains of the South Gate and granite slabs

There are two main relics from the original Walled City. First, a small portion of one of the original entrance gates with two granite slabs with characters announcing ‘South Gate’ and ‘Kowloon Walled City.’

Second, there is a yamen building used for the administration of the city by the Chinese authorities until they left in 1899.

Neither relic is particularly impressive (which is maybe why, having decided to build a park, they had to fill it with pretty but ersatz objects). I suspect few mourn the destruction of Kowloon Walled City. If I was an illegal immigrant squatter, I would have been delighted to be housed in one of Hong Kong’s nearby public housing tower blocks, comparatively spacious, safely constructed, with piped utilities and a range of excellent public services. Maybe it’s time to end commemorating the Kowloon Walled City?

model of Kowloon Walled City

(I first heard about the Walled City in the book ‘Chasing the Dragon’ by evangelist Jackie Pullinger, telling of her work there with drug addicts. I believe Jackie still lives in Hong Kong, is 70 years old now, and runs a charity called St Stephen’s Society that cares for hundreds of needy people in Hong Kong and the Philippines. I had read somewhere that there was a memorial to Jackie in the Park, but I didn’t notice it.)    

Chow in Cheung Chau

(warning – lots of photos)

Grey skies with poor visibility this morning and a temperature of only 16 degrees Celsius (about 60 Farenheit), ten degrees cooler than yesterday’s high, but pleasant enough for a day’s exploring on Cheung Chau.

Cheung Chau is a small island a few miles to the southwest of Hong Kong island, less than an hour’s journey by regular ferry. It’s probably best known for Cheung Po Tsai, a pirate and maritime Robin Hood who, in the late 18^th century is alleged to have commanded a fleet of 600 pirate ships. In 1810 he surrendered to the Chinese government – and was made an officer in the Chinese Navy! They say his treasure is buried somewhere on Cheung Chau, and the cave where he hid is now a tourist attraction.   

Our ferry, the Xin Fei, a large  three-deck diesel vessel, was waiting at Central Pier terminal five and we departed on time, manoeuvring cautiously into the busy Victoria Harbour, passing another, smaller, First Ferry. 

and one of the famous Star Ferries that transit between Hong Kong Island and the mainland of Kowloon. Star Ferries are a real Hong Kong institution, plying their trade for the last 134 years.

Then, it's on towards the Western Approaches to the Harbour, where there are usually dozens of large ships at anchor. First, we pass one of the signposts of the sea, a black and yellow East cardinal buoy.

Then, we're among the anchored ships. Most of them are awaiting the unloading of their freight. This is done by smaller ships, barges called lighters, that come alongside, take off the freight using their derrick cranes, and, pulled along by powerful tugs, move the freight to one of the many piers and wharves of Hong Kong for unloading. Sometimes we're lucky enough to see a ship in the process of being unloaded by a lighter, as in the photo below.

Sometimes we're double lucky and see two or three lighters working on the same ship, like the Lantau Bee below.

But it's not just freight transshipment that's happening; the sea is alive with craft of different kinds. For example, there are police boats:

Harbour pilots with their red and white livery.

Customs launches.

A tug pulling a laden lighter.

Fast ferries roar past, like the jet boat below, taking tourists and gamblers to the casinos of Macau. These boats are built by Boeing and can carry up to 243 passengers. They are propelled by waterjets powered by twin Rolls Royce gas turbines and, because of their hydrofoils that lift the hull out of the water - reducing drag - they can reach a speed of 45 knots. They're impressive!

Look - there's another one, going in the other direction.

There are other high-speed ferries that also zip past us, like this water jet. 

Just before we arrive at Chung Chau, we saw a few fishing boats, like this one. It has what looks like there is a tree branch mounted on the top of the wheelhouse, I don't know what that signifies but I've seen it many times...nostalgia for terra firma? left over from Christmas? Your guess is as good as mine...

Then we slowly slipped through the entrance to the typhoon shelter, past the lines of neatly moored high-prowed local fishing boats - there are dozens of them - and moored up at the little jetty. Cheung Chau has been a fishing port for centuries, maybe thousands of years, it is one of the oldest inhabited parts of Hong Kong, famous for its seafood (and the real reason we are here today is to eat some salty-fish-rice, neither rare not expensive but I believe nowhere does it as well as Cheung Chau, maybe it's just the sea air but I believe there's something extra special about the way that they prepare it here.) 

Walking along the promenade at the water's edge - the praya - there are several things that impress themselves on the mind. First, the absence of motor vehicles. Apart from miniature police cars, ambulances and fire engines, regular motor vehicles are banned. The town is small, its streets are narrow, and the only commercial vehicles allowed are village tractors like this.

Virtually everyone cycles, and there are fleets of cycles waiting to be rented by tourists. Even the elderly folk cycle - and they all seem to use bicycles with trainer wheels like learner children back home. Good idea. 

The semi-circular praya follows the curve of the harbour and is lined with restaurants, small stores and souvenir shops. We stopped at one shop with a variety of seashells beautifully polished, and, in some cases carved, like this one of the Buddha.

Some of restaurants had fish tanks outside with an awesome variety of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and eels.

Along the praya there were several shops selling seafood, fresh, dried or salted.

Or, you could walk over to the water's edge where the boats unloaded and buy your fish directly from one of the fisherfolk.

As we watched, a local fisherwoman moored up her small boat and prepared to unload the meagre catch of the day.

Further out, a street cleaner picked up rubbish. Only this street cleaner worked from her boat, scooping up litter from her street, the waters of the busy harbour.

No doubt about it, this is a boating society, the harbour is jam-packed, side to side,  with water craft of all kinds...

We passed the main wet market and popped in to have a look, admiring the barbecued pork shop, including its whole barbecued pigs (in the white box).

There was a small temple near the sea front, dedicated to Tin Hau, Chinese goddess of the sea, protector of sailors and fishermen. She is popular in sea-girt Hong Kong, with over 100 temples dedicated to her.

Then we headed into the town, slowly walking through the narrow streets, heading up the hill. We passed some old buildings in the centre of town, small residences built into the rocky ground.

Because of the steep ground, houses are built on several levels and flights of steps zig-zagged up the hill. Walking must be a challenge for elderly people.

Hey missus! You've forgotten to take down your Chinese New Year decorations...well, leave them up, they look very colourful.

Even the Cheung Chau dogs are very impressive. They have their own toilet facilities 

and, presumably, are intelligent enough to read the instructions and use the correct location!

It was warmer now, the air was heavy with the scent of flowers and the birds sang all around us. Near the top of the hill we saw an amazing sight. Someone had made a home using old logs to face one of the walls. There were several small properties here that were simply and skimpily constructed - but created with care and ingenuity that compensated for the lack of funds. They all had mailboxes at their front entrances.

There were also several papaya trees, one of which had a large number of fruits.

Soon after, we headed down the hill again until we left the built up area and burst upon this perfect Mediterraean-like view of the sea. There was a sumptuous villa nearby, perched on the side of the cliff with spectacular views of the South China Sea. For a moment, we both had the same thought 'ah, if we only had a million or three to spare we would buy a house like that...' Then the moment passed and we strolled on.

And I should mention the colourful bougainvillea...

On the way to the restaurant for lunch we passed this curious plant in someone's garden. Do you know what it is? (answer at the end of this blog).

Lunch included a full plate of salty fish chicken rice. It was rather filling but we felt that we had earned it. A glorious day.

And the answer to the plant question: it's an egg-plant...someone has taken the empty shells of hens' eggs and impaled them on the spears of a plant to make it look like they are buds or fruit. I suspect that  the garden belongs to an artist (or a rather weird gardener!) .