One morning we decided to head to the northernmost point of Hong Kong (for us), the famous Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. We had saved it on the map app when we were planning the trip, and were looking for something to do before a tour we had planned for later in the afternoon. We took the MTR blue line train to the Sha Tin stop, and a short walk on a sunny, hot day and we reached the entrance to the Monastery.
Neither of these below pictured is the entrance (though they looks like they should be, no?), but a guard told us to follow the path alongside, which had this sign posted. It was not busy at the Monastery, so we were not approached by any fake monks.
We did find the entrance just around the corner from the sign, and it was clearly marked.
We started walking up, and kept noticing it getting steeper and steeper, more stairs and more stairs. A note: be prepared for stairs all throughout Hong Kong; often there are escalators and sometimes elevators, but be prepared to do a lot of stair climbing in general.
There was no escalator here though, it was just a climb, up, up, up…with benches sprinkled in to rest, as we walked past the variety of gold painted buddhas, some laughing (at us?) as we climbed.
We were hot and sweaty, and took a few breaks; note this was early February and we were hot, I can’t imagine doing this in summer. Finally, we made it to the top.
Past the pink building with the huge Buddha plastered on it opens to the courtyard, one first takes notice of the tall pagoda at the end of it; it was serene as there were few people; mainly Buddhists praying or walking with incense sticks and a few other tourists.
On the other side of the center shrine is a completely different Buddha in all white:
On either side are two long buildings with 18, life-size Arthats, and bonsai trees in front of them; one houses a gift shop that sells souvenirs, incense, and drinks. We bought an energy drink that was clear with blue and white lettering, usually meaning water, so it was a bit of shock, but we needed the electrolytes, so maybe the Buddha was looking out for us.
The Monastery was founded in 1949 and completed in 1957, however volunteers run it, and there are no monks that inhabit it (aha! hence the sign about not feeding the fake monks). Of course, the five-story pagoda, featured on one of the Hong Kong $100 bank notes, is the main attraction.
Flanking the Pagoda are two more large shrines, here is Jessica in front of each:
South of the Monastery and located less than five minutes from the Diamond Hill MTR station, of which there is a shopping mall, is the Nan Lian Garden and connected Chi Lin Nunnery. I was not prepared for how much I would enjoy the Garden, it was possibly my favorite place we visited on the trip. Upon entering the Garden, it felt and sounded like the city was thousands of miles away.
Once inside, the amount of beautiful flowering trees, lush greenery, and bonsai trees were overwhelming calming.
The garden has many pagodas, bridges and even a mill; there is a large pond filled with the biggest Koi fish we had ever seen!
The Garden was commissioned in 2003 and completed in 2006 and designed in the Tang dynasty style, there is a sense of harmony, calmness and peace throughout. Once we neared the stone pavilion entrance to the Nunnery we noticed the Bonsai tree display, and if you like Bonsai trees, this was just an introduction:
On the way up the stairs, there are two huge Bonsai trees and another flight up there are two huge Bougainvillea ones.
The courtyard in front of the Nunnery is truly a bonsai lovers paradise, I took many more pictures than I will share here; and the small pools pull of lily pads and flowering water plants were stunning as well. The Nunnery itself requests no pictures, but it is also a sight to behold.
There is also a building with wood miniatures of buildings from all across China, including the Forbidden Palace.
We finally had to leave as they were closing for the day, it was such a peaceful place I was a bit sad to leave. If in Hong Kong, and the city gets to be too much for you, take a break and enjoy the serenity at the Nan Jian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery, it will be just what the doctor ordered.
Phil's WayPastCool 