New Territories, Hong Kong

Take yourself out to Tai Po Market mtr station and look around the wet and dry markets. Have a walk round the town. This is the old Hong Kong and as it was 20 years ago. The people are all very helpful. If you are a walker, take your gear and walk back along the waterfront, where there is a designated walking and cycling track. You can walk on the pavement from Tai Po to Shatin, passing the Shatin race track. Do remember to take plenty of water with you though, as no shops!

Pai Tau Village is located beside the Sha Tin KCR station in the New Territories near the 10,000 Buddha’s Monastery. A good way to visit the visit is to climb the steps up to the Monastery past the life-sized golden statues and then come back down through the village via the lower level of the monastery.

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This wonderful new garden, opened in November 2006, is located in the Diamond Hill area of New Kowloon opposite the Chin Lin Nunnery. The garden is designed in the style of the Tang Dynasty, a classical circulatory landscaped garden based on the blue print of the Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province, China. It covers an area of 35,000m2 and includes trees, rocks, hillocks and water features such as ponds, waterfalls and fountains. Along the route are timber structures in the Tang architectural style such as pavilions, terraces, verandahs, halls, bridges and gates. There are small exhibitions including an architecture gallery and rock gallery. It really is a lovely, peaceful spot in the middle of the urban hustle and bustle. More photo's can be found in one of my travelogues.

Open: 7am-9pm.

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Taxi's, climbing fences, fishing, Police, clubbing, getting drunk together, forgetting what day of the week it is, missing my birthday (hahaha), shopping, movies, hanging out with friends, bowling .. just to name a few of the things i did in Hong Kong and missed my flight and trip to Beijing ... OMG's what a GREAT trip it was.

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This Buddhist nunnery, in Diamond Hill was founded in the 1930's but reopened in the year 2000 and is a replica from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)
Apparently not one nail was used in it's construction! Instead they used interlocking pieces of wood.
There are some beautiful lotus ponds in front of the Nunnery. It is quite an unusual sight with the backdrop of skyscrapers behind. It is worth a visit, especially if you are visiting the Wong Tai Sin temple, as that is only 1 MTR stop away from the Chi Lin Nunnery.

Open: Thurs-Tues 9am-3:30pm Free admission

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW

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In the main temple there are 12,900 minature buddhas on view, either statues or plaques all gold plated. In the center there are 3 large buddhas - the Buddha of Medicine on the right, in the middle the Goddess of Mercy and on the left the Ti-tsany with a stick in his hand. Sitting in the middle of the front row is the founder of the Monastery, the Reverend Yuet Kai.

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This colourful, vibrant complex of temples was built in the 1950's and is located in Shatin, north of Kowloon.
There are actually around 12,800 buddhas inside the main temple. You can also see several other temples, 2 pavillions, a nine story pagoda, not forgetting around 500 gilded life size statues along the 400 steps walkway up to the monastery, each one unique in appearance. Don't miss the steps to the side of the main temple where you can reach other temples and some more statues, very interesting and beautiful!

For more information regarding the inside of the main temple please refer to my other tip and for more photos on this interesting place, please look at my travelogue.

These two famous banyan trees are a favourite with local villagers who come to burn joss sticks and incense papers hoping their wishes will come true. During Chinese New Year, many Hong Kong people make a pilgrimage to this spot to make their Chinese New Year wishes.