Chi Lin Nunnery
The Chi Lin Nunnery was one of the first Buddhist temples I visited in Asia were I was incredibly humbled just being in the space. I came with a large group and we all settled down upon entering the Nan Lian Garden. It was so classical Hong Kong, a serene and spiritual place tucked right into the city. There were highways surrounding the space, skyscrapers in the background, and all of it was right next to a MTR stop. Our group dispersed a bit to go through the garden.
We then headed into the Chi Lin Nunnery where there were dozens of rooms with statues of Buddha all around a large courtyard. The space itself demanded a certain amount of respect from all of us.
I could have stayed there forever. There was also a vegetarian restaurant in the garden that was situated behind a waterfall. My kind of place.
Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple
Only one MTR stop away from the Chi Lin Nunnery was the Sik Sik Yuen Tai Sin Temple (wowee that’s a mouthful). This Taoist temple was almost the exact opposite of the Buddhist nunnery we had just left. Rather than exuding serenity, this temple was flashy, intricate, and colorful. We poked around and spent some time sitting in the gardens.
Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery
Neither my roommate nor I had class on Mondays so we’d usually head out together to check out different parts of Hong Kong. We went to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery one Monday and were blown away. This was another location where I only took photos on my lost phone, so only a few made it.
We initially went to the wrong temple, which must have been a common mistake because we found a sign explicitly stating that it was not the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. We eventually found the right place and started a slow ascent to the top. Lined up along the sides were hundreds and hundreds (ten thousand, I guess) gold buddhas. Some of the statues represent the path to enlightenment, but the number ten thousand just represents a very large number in Cantonese.
The top of the Monastery was even more impressive. The view was spectacular and there were multiple temples surrounding the a plaza. There were also dozens more Buddha statues. The top of the hill also had a vegetarian restaurant that I again did not get to eat at. I really missed out on the vegetarian Buddhist food on this trip.
