On Day Two in Hong Kong, as I was leaving TSS and walking through the Mall the gangway led onto, I happened to look down at the floor. To my surprise, I saw circular plates engraved with the words, "Cruise Passenger Hall" imbedded in the floor. Obviously, their role was to let cruise ship passengers - or in the case of TSS, students, faculty and staff - know they were in the right corridor to get to the doors leading to the cruise ship gangways. I especially enjoyed the fact that the writing on them alternated between English and Chinese languages.
English language engraved floor plate. 1271
Chinese language engraved floor plate. 1274
Nikki and I were on our way to a nearby hotel where we were to meet up with the tour group we were going to join that day. The previous day, we had gone to the office of the Hong Kong Tourist Board (HKTB) located on the nearby Star Ferry Pier shopping complex to see what tours they offered.How We Chose the Tour
TSS was docked in Victoria Harbor at Kowloon, across the harbor from Hong Kong Island. Beyond Hong Kong, stretching to the border with China proper, is the area nown as the New Territories. Another small island to one side is Lantau Island where the Hong Kong International Airport is located. We wanted to take a tour to Hong Kong Island and visit the Man Mo Temple, the longest outdoor escalator in the world and other interesting sites. I had read in my Hong Kong guide that the HKTB offered guided tours at reasonable prices.
When looking through their tour brochure, we saw one that included the Man Mo Temple and many other interesting sights. We were very excited and plunked down our money immediately. As it turned out, there is more than one Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong and our choice of tour took us to the New Territories rather than to Hong Kong Island. A closer reading of the tour description would have told us that, but we had confined ourselves to looking at a list of the sights. Here is the complete description, which can also be seen online at http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/touring/heritage/ta_heri_139692.jhtml
"Across the New Territories, much of Hong Kong's rich heritage has been restored to its former glory. The Heritage Tour gives you an amazing insight into a unique past that is a vivid contrast to the city of today.
"You'll discover the roots of ancient beliefs in the Man Mo Temple, dedicated to the gods of Man (literature) and Mo (martial arts). Another beautiful tradition stems from the enchanting Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees. Local villagers 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. Participate in this tradition and your wish may come true.
"Step back into the mid-1800s as you enter Tai Fu Tai, the opulent residence built by a scholar who was bestowed the title of Tai Fu (mandarin) by a Qing emperor. Lavish plaster mouldings and auspicious Chinese wood carvings adorn its regal interior. Architecture lovers can find similar exquisite décor inside the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, built in honour of the Tang clan's founding ancestor. The nearby walled village of Lo Wai, offers fascinating sights of village life in the New Territories."
How the Tour Began
We waited in the lobby of the hotel, meeting place of many tour groups sponsored by various tour companies. Finally one of the tour guides called out our tour and led us and several other people outside to where our tour bus awaited.
Our Tour bus for the day. 1275
Nikki knew I'd want to take photos from the bus window so she graciously allowed me to sit next to the window. I drew out my camera, pressed it against the glass and as soon as the bus began to move, I started snapping photos of street scenes.Construction going on the street just outside the hotel entrance.1277
Vehicles going by on the street while the bus waited to turn onto the street. 1278
Construction going down the center of the street. 1279
I liked the look of this building, which we whipped past. 1282
Along the way, our knowledgeable tour guide talked to us about Hong Kong in general and about what we would see on the tour specifically.Tai Fu Tai
Our first stop, Tai Fu Tai,1288
Closer-up. 1290
Buildings to the left. Note traditional architecture. 1292
Small buildings to the right and against the back wall. 1293
Closer view of the paved area beside the stone table and seats. 1295
View to the right. 1296
Tile work beneath the eaves and at the top of the roof. 1298
Elaborate niches in the tile work. 1304
Same view, different angle. 1306
Doorway to the house. 1307
Sign over the door. 1308
Beautiful fan window and decorative white plaster moulding above an interior doorway. 1312
Beautifully carved and decorated screen-like doors dividing two rooms. 1313
Inset jade quatra-foils and other beautiful decorations with the traditional architecture. 1314
Closeup of jade inset. 1316
Beautifully carved and decorated doorway frome, 1317
Close-up of one of the swinging doorway screens. 1321
Arched doorway with beautiful white plaster moulded top. 1323
Balcony railing and ceiling design. 1325
Beautiful painted scenes along edge of ceiling. 1326
Painting reproductions of family members of the household. 1327
Close-up of detailed wood carving. 1329
Blurry carved screen with light behind. 1331
Carved edging on two tables. 1332
Carved wooden fruit bowl. 1333
Corner carved wood design. 1334
Roof eave decodration. 1336
Roof decoration and porch overhand. 1338
Doors and railings on outside balcony and other details. 1340
Slightly blurry close-up of roof decorations. 1342
Close-up of overhang. 1346
Close-up of beautiful twin chairs. A sign on the seats warns visitors against sitting on them. 1348
An explanatory sign, unfortunately unreadable. 1350
Another sign. 1352
Close=up of fish decoration on wall of one room, a symbol of good fortune. 1356
Beautiful room with seating area, carved screen over the window and beautiful decorations surrounding it. Note the fish decoration on wall to the left. 1358
Carved wood doorway decoration in silhouette. 1359
Another view, showing the carved fretwork above. 1360
Sign about the Architectural features of the house, panel 1. 1361
Diagram of the house, panel 2. 1362
3rd panel of the sign. 1364
Close up of Man Chung-luen, original home owner. 1366
Closeup of small table with beautiful carved decoration. 1349
Another explanatory sign. 1350
Close-up of ceiling. 1368
View through archway to another set of swinging door screens, this set is closed. 1372
Open doorway on second story with beautiful painted, carved wood beside it. 1374
Close-up of the colorful decorations. 1376.
C;ose-up of decoration above open screens. 1381
Our tour guide told us that walking through a Moon Door would bring good luck so we should always take advantage when we saw one. Then, surprise, we walked into a hallway and - voila! - there was a Moon Doorway! He led us through to the kitchen area and we obediently followed, eager to earn ourselves some good luck.
Moon doorway leading to another section of the house having more swinging door screens. Watch your step! 1384
Grinding stones on the floor of the kitchen area. 1386
A long cooking counter with brick back wall. 1387
Cooking area at the back of the kitchen. 1388
I turned around ninety degrees to where the beautiful doors were, and took some photos of the decorative details.
More elaborate and colorful trim. 1392
Light coming through the fretwork. 1394
Then I turned back toward the kitchens.
Close-up of one of the grinding stone. 1395
Woks resting in built-in openings in the long stove counter. 1396
How Wok Cooking BeganThe tour guide told us how wok cooking evolved in the era during which the house was built. There were hard times with little fuel for cooking, so the cooks cut all foods into small pieces and used things like straw to build a quick, hot fire. Cooking such small pieces took little time and saved greatly on use of fuel. It helped the family get through the difficulties.
Kitchen on the left with stone wall dividing it from the one on the right. 1398
We went back the way we had come, through the Moon Door.
Another window with carved jade insets, in the wall beside the Moon Door. 1399
Back outside again, we walked past the long, low building against the back wall and out through an opening in the wall at the far side from the opening we had entered through. 1400
Close-up of the decorative painting at the corner of the building. 1402
Wonderful view of the eaves on various parts of the main house. 1404
A Walk Through the Ancient Neighborhood
Then we started walking through the nearby neighborhood, one of the oldest areas in the New Territories.
This beautiful tile mural was at the top of one of the more modern homes. 1406
The house, with its beautiful railings and the mural with the open fretwork on either side. 1407
A wonderful old tree in the open area between some of the old homes. 1408
Street view of old homes. 1409
Two decorative sculptures alongside a wall. 1410
Another interesting more modern house with the delightful 1974 at the top. I don't know if it is the house number or the year the house was builg. 1412
Our tour guide said that the old tree (pictured above) was an offering tree. I turned back to the old tree and saw the offerings there. 1417
An inset in one of the walls. 1419
Entering the old area. 1420
The Chinese flag flying above one of the homes. A bit blurry, but I wanted to get the stars and sicle. 1423
Delightful streetfront homes on narrow street of the old neighborhood. 1424
A Pekinese dog trotting down the street with its owners. I had to get a photo of it while I was in China but was so nervous because the owner was nearby that it came out blurry. 1425
Tiny stone shed at end of one street. 1427
Decoration on the eaves of one house. 1430
Eaves of another nearby house. 1431
The houses were behind walls but their beautiful eaves were visible above the tops. 1432
More beautiful decorations on one house . 1433
Doors of the house, with a likeness of Man (god of literature) and Mo (god of war, or martial arts). 1434
Why Man and Mo?It was here that our tour guide explained how the traditional gods Man (literature) and Mo (martial arts or war) came to be so revered and widely worshiped. At one time, someone important needed body guards at all times, including while he slept. One night he had none, so he had someone paint the figures of Man and Mo on the double doors leading to his bedroom. On one door was Man and on the other was Mo, both dressed in armour and holding weapons to defend the sleeping man. When malefactors came during the night with ill-intent, they vaguely saw the painted figures in the darkness. thought they were real persons and fled. The saved person was grateful, of course, and shared the information with others who could benefit from the same practice and the use and eventually the worship of these deities became widespread. Now images of these deities are often seen on either side of double entry doors to homes and temples alike.
We continued on through the old neighborhood, heading for a very old traditional family shrine that eventually came to be a shrine for the entire village because over time, everyone came to be related to the family either by blood or through marriage.
One section of the shrine. 1435
Decoration at the top of the shrine. 1437
Close-up of offerings on the altar of the shrine. 1441
Same view at a greater distance to show the lighted candles or gold foil flame shapes (can't remember which) on the candle pillars. 1443
Offering on small side altar. 1445
Man, god of literature, painted on door to shrine. 1447
Mo, god of war, or martial arts, painted on the other half of the above outer door. 1449
We left the old neighborhood, got back into the tour bus and headed out to our next stop.On The Road Again
Street direction sign. 1450
Lovely plantings and stairway on side of the road. 1451
Bend in the road. 1452
Sign on the road. 1455
Another sign. 1457
Nice scenery. 1458
Next view; the place is likely to be a park. 1460
Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall
Sorry about the yellow truck. The important thing in this photo is the very old wall. 1461
We were going to go inside the wall to visit another old neighborhood but had to walk through a more modern one on the way. 1462
Another view of the neighborhoods. 1463
Our next stop was Tang Chung Ling ancestral hall that has an ancient legend about a princess who lost her way while escaping a rebellion and came to Kam Tin. Concealing her identity, she married a commoner from the local Tang clan and gave birth to four sons, one of whom, Tang Chung-Ling, moved from Kam Tin and settled in this area, called Lung Yeuk Tau.
Tang Chung Ling ancestral hall, built in the 1500s, is one of the largest in Hong Kong. 1464
Beautifully decorated roof and eaves. 1466
Sign. Not at all readable, unfortunately. 1467
Wonderful closeup of the eave guardian and eave details. 1469
Close-up of face of eave guardian. 1470
Entrance guarded by fenced gate and signs on pillars and above the door. 1471
Others in the tour group heading into the hall. 1472
Man or Mo on one of the double doors. 1474
Mo or Man on the other one of the double doors. 1475
Close-up of the sign over the door. 1477
Detail on the ceiling trim. 1479
Ceiling detail. 1480
Shrine. 1481
Tasseled tapestry hanging above the shrine. 1482
Another of the three shrines in the structure. 1483
View of the ceiling beams, including the red central beam. 1485
Deatil of the side panel of the shrine. 1487
A footed urn, slightly blurry. 1487
View of the eave guardian and other roof decorations1490
The tile roof with its guardians make a nice sight. 1491
Closeup of traditional details. 1493
Another view of an eave guardian. 1494
Closeup of tapestry hanging above shrine. 1496
Bonsai tree. 1498
Third shrine. 1499
Detail of the shrine decorations. 1501
Detail of fantastic roof decorations. 1502
Wonderful eave decoration. 1504
View over the decorated top of the wall to housetops beyond. 1505
More closeup of roof decorations. 1507
Then we walked outside the compound. As we walked around the outside of the walls, I took several photos.Eaves on a building outside the wall. 1509
Detail of a compound building, seen from outside the wall. 1512
And more. 1514
Another bonsai tree. 1515
View of building from outside. 1516
Just outside the walls was another Man Mo TempleView as we approach it. 1518
Close-up of the doorway with its signs. 1519
Fabulous roof, eave and eave end decorations on a nearby building. 1520
Close-up of door decorations. 1521
View of beautiful tree not far away. 1523
White on black eave decoration and eave guardian. 1524
Decorations on opposite side of center. 1525
Decoration including murals below the eave overhangs, 1526
Statue of Man or Mo at the temple entrance. 1527
Cauldrons filled with something (ashes? sand? earth?) with red offering candles imbedded. 1529
Shrine to one of the gods. 1533
Statue of the other god (Mo or Man). 1534
Incense spirals hanging from ceiling,. Not sure what the large painted item is. 1536
Special bells that are rung when, if I recall correctly, an offering is made. 1538
Altar of shrine. Blurry. 1540
Sign on wall. 1541
Bonsai tree in courtyard, opposite the one pictured above. 1542
Another temple. Notice the steep stairs leading up to it. They're not in great repair. We had to tread with care. 1544
Close=up of sign over doorway. 1545
Then we began walking through the old neighborhood nearby.I loved this tunnel in the thick surrounding wall. 1546
View from the end of the neighborhood. Beautiful green covered hill. 1547
Wall at the end of the village; it overlooks a farming valley and surrounding hills. 1548
Another view of the scenery. 1550
Close-up of the wall with lichen. 1552
The tour guide told us that before the British took over Hong Kong in the 1800s, the hillsides were barren. The British thought that barren hills were not be to tolerated and so they planted greenery on the hills and over the intervening one hundred-plus years, the plants had covered the hills until they are as beautiful as they are today.More scenery. 1553
And more. 1554
Farming scene in the vallye. 1555
And more. 1556
View of walkway along the wall, the way we had come. 1557
Group of large pants in valley near the wall. 1558
Overlook built into the paved walkway/wall. 1559
We walked the length of the back wall, turned to our right and continued on the walkway to the corner of an interior wall.Wall corner with overhanging greenery. 1560
Stone implements, out of context, on the ground at the corner of the inner wall. 1561
Beautiful flowering tree that towers above the wall corner. 1562
Close-up of flowering tree. 1563
Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees
We got back on our tour bus to drive to another temple and the famous Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees. Our tour guide told us that another fabulous building would be near them, a 5-Star Toilet Facility! He had encouraged us all along that if we needed to use a restroom we should try to wait until we got to this place. Now we knew why!
Frist sight of the temple and tree area, with flags flying. 1564
Nice white on black eave decorations on the temple across the driveway from the Toilets. 1566
Closer-up of the white on black decoration under the eaves. 1567
Roof guardians. 1570
The Toilet facility!!! It truly qualifies for 5-star status. Women to the right; men to the left. 1572
Closer view of the line of colorful flags along the curved wall enclosing the temple and its courtyard. 1574
Outdoor shrine built against the outer courtyard wall. 1573
Tile mural below eaves. 1576
The doorway to the temple. 1577
Eaves and roof guardians at corner of the eaves. 1578
Metal incense shrine in the courtyard and, behind it, flags waving in the breeze.. 1580
We followed our guide into the temple.The main shrine was elaborately decorated, with images of the central gods and many offerings on the altar. 1581
Beautiful colored decorations beside the shrine. 1583
Close-up of a lantern and the decoration above it. 1585
Chinese incense spirals hanging from the ceilings. 1587
Close-up of the decorations, slightly blurry. 1589
Closeup of one image. 1591
Tapestry sourrounding the altar temple. 1592
Back view of temple statue and the vases of greenery on the table beyond. 1593
Gold-embroidered tapestry table skirt on another altar table. 1594
Gong on a red lacquer stand with a bell below. The gong is struck when someone gives coin offerings. 1595
I can't remember what the function of these is but they are very interesting. 1596
A smaller shrine on one side of the main shrine. 1598
Close-up of the altar offerings. 1600
Special somethings in ornate glass boxes on table. 1601
Great view of the incense spirals hanging from the ceiling. 1603
The tour guide explained that if we wanted to make a wish at the Wishing Tree outside, we could buy an official wish paper from the temple attendant. It had things written on it and the purchasers could write their own specific wishes on it. Both Nikki and I bought wishes, rolled them into scrolls, tied them closed with the furnished red ribbon, which was long enough to make a loop at the end.View of the doorway after I exited the temple, with wish paper in hand. 1604
Making a Wish
Our tour guide began telling us about the nearby Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees. By tradition, people wanting a wish granted would write the wish on a paper, roll it into a scroll, tie it to an orange and toss it toward the Wishing Tree, trying to have it catch on a branch. of the tree. If that happened, the wish would come true.
Over time, the Trees were so overused that its branches were either broken off or could no longer handle the treatment. So, now a Wish Board is used while a nearby tree is being trained as the new Wishing Tree. We asked the tour guide if he had ever maded wishes at the tree and had a wish come true and he said Yes, he'd done it several times and some of the wishes had come true.
View of back side of the Wishing Board, the side not nearest the new Wishing Tree. 1605
View down the lane and through the gateway to the original Wishing Tree beyond. 1606
I wrote a wish on the edge of the wish paper I'd bought and Nikki wrote every single wish she had , writing all around all the margins of her wish paper. Then it was time to place our wishes on the board, which is the modern way to make the wish - or maybe it's just the way tourists have to do it. We asked the tour guide's advice on the best placement of the wish to give it the best chance of coming true. He said that he always tried to place his wish in a place where many other wishes were on the assumption that it was a lucky location. The board had rows and series of nails for attaching wishes.Buveh placing her wish paper on the Wish Board. 1608
The wish board is beside the new Wishing Tree that is being trained.The Wishing Tree-In-Training. 1609
View down the street from the Wishing Tree in the direction of, but above and beyond, the 5-Star Toilets. 1610
One of Hong Kong's Oldest Man Mo Temples
Then we took the tour bus to our final destination, one of the oldest Man Mo Temples in Hong Kong. followed by a walking tour of the surrounding traditional shopping area.
On our way to the temple we passed the coffin-maker's shop. The shiny redish-brown wooden coffins look flower-shaped on the ends.
Several new coffins stacked and with white cloth cover over the topmost one. 1611
Sign over the coffin shop. Our tour guide is on the left. 1612
Car and bicycle parking lots. Also, view down the street. 1613
Across the streeet from the coffin shop was this building with a courtyard and surrounded by a wall. See the next-to-last photo in this posting to see what is inside the courtyard. 1614
This view of the coffins, from the side, shows that coffins in the lower row also have a cloth over them. 1615
The Man Mo Temple
Then we walked to the Man Mo Temple.
View from the entrance shows many incense spirals hanging from the ceiling, a metal offering receptacle in the foreground and the altars and images beyond. 1616
Close-up of the offering receptacle. It has incense sticks and a lighted offering candle. 1617
Board with papers on it. I don't remember if these are wishes or memorials or what. 1618
Close-up of the central altar area. 1619
Close-up of images of Man and Mo. 1621
A side altar area with a beautiful, colorful ornately carved table, a lacquered wood cabinet with gold decorations sitting on it and an offering on top of the cabinet. 1622
Before the central shrine was a beautiful ornately decorated offering table with various types of food offerings on it. It is flanked on both sides with even more ornately gold-decorated chairs. 1630
Main altar. In the left foreground are scroll offerings. 1632
View opposite the shrine, the entry door, with incense spirals at the top of the picture. 1633
View of the incense spirals seen through the arched opening. 1634
Side offering area. 1635
Main altar. 1637
Candle offering holder. The candles are red. 1640
Courtyard of the temple with stone benches with jade arm rest decorations. 1641
We walked through the courtyard and down the street and around the corner to the traditional market area.Walk Through a Traditional Style Market Area
Street market scene. 1642
Meat stand. 1643
Vegetable stand. 1644
Live chickens for sale. 1645
More live poultry. 1646
Prepared chickens, in a variety of preparations. Not sure what the black ones are prepared with. Or the others, either. 1647
Other dressed fowls for sale. 1648
Other mefoodstuffs ats for sale. 1649
Prepared food items in a small shop. 1650
Snakes for sale. Snake soup is popular, as are other snake dishes. 1651
Outdoor vendors in the street shaded by colorful umbrellas. 1652
Large ceramic vase at the edge of the road. A trash receptacle? 1653
We walked into one final shop, a "Paper Offering Shop" where there are replicas of almost anything one can imagine. It is possible to make a paper offering wish by burning a paper replica of the desired thing in one of the temples. It was fascinating so I don't know why I didn't take a picture of it; probably because the proprietor was keeping a sharp eye on our tour group. There were paper houses, vehicles, money, and almost every other thing imaginable. Our tour guide bought a packet of paper money and gave us each a few pieces of money as a gift and end-of-tour gesture.We went back to the bus and headed out on our way back to our point of origin.
As we were driving along our route, we went around a corner and there was the Hong Kong Railway Museum I had been trying to learn the location of since before I arrived in Hong Kong. I wanted to visit it in honor of my three-year-old train-loving grandson. I had even emailed them from TSS before arriving in Hong Kong to ask directions, but their English didn't help me locate it. And suddenly, there it was! Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to return to it before TSS left Hong Kong so I did the only thing I could - took a photo of the entrance.
Entrance to the Hong Kong Railway Museum. 1655
Then we went past the building with a courtyard surrounded by a wall that we had seen across the street from the coffin maker's shop and this time, because I was sitting in the bus, I was higher than the wall and I could see over it. There were stone circle-top tables and benches where men were playing board or card games.Men playing games at stone tables and chairs in courtyard of small building. 1656
See You Again Soon, Hong Kon
After the tour bus let us out at the hotel we had started from, Nikki and I walked back to the ship and spent the rest of the day there. When night came, I went out on the deck to take some photos of harbor scenes before the ship left the dock for the open sea. It was hard to get non-blurry pictures because the ship was rising and falling on the harbor water.
Scene 1. Hong Kong Clock Tower with Art Museum behind it. They are just beyond the Star Ferry Pier shopping area. 1657
Scene 2 - Hong Kong Clock tower. 1658
Scene 3. 1659
Scene 4 - New Year 2008 lighted sign. 1664
Scene 5. 1666
Scene 6. 1667
Scene 7. 1668
Scene 8. Two tall lighted signs across the harbor. 1672
TSS left Hong Kong later that night. We were going out to sea for four days to wrap up the semester and then we would be docking in Hong Kong again on Sunday 23 December to end the semester/voyage. So, I was saying "See you again soon"rather than "Good-Bye" to Hong Kong.
