Hong Kong

Hong Kong, the former British colony handed back to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, is today one of two SARs, or Special Administrative Regions. It occupies a small peninsula bordering the southern Chinese region of Guangdong, and a number of islands around, the main one being the island of Hong Kong, a mountain cropping up from the sea at whose foot lies the oldest part of the former colony surrounded by futuristic skyscrapers. Just north of the island, on the other side of the narrow sound, lies Kowloon, and, further on to the west, the green island of Lantau. As with Singapore, the new and the old blend together here, modernity and tradition, the latter including religion. Most people in Hong Kong are Taoists and/or Buddhists of the Mahayana school, as testified by the numerous temples in the former colony. The most interesting Buddhist sites I have had an opportunity to visit here are the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, the Chi Lin Nunnery built in Tang style with its peaceful Nan Lian Garden, and the Po Lin Monastery with its magnificent Tian Tan Buddha.

The footpath leading to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, flanked by 500 statues of luohan (arahat)

A few of the 13000 small Buddhas inside the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

The Pagoda within the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

The Chi Lin Nunnery

The Nan Lian Garden