Wong Tai Sin Temple 黃大仙祠, Nan Lian Garden 南蓮園池, Budaoweng 不倒翁, & Avenue of Stars 星光大道

February 23, 2014 / Stephanie Ling

So productive! We literally hit up all those spots and more in one day. Definitely doable but prepare for lots of walking (but that goes for going anywhere in Hong Kong).

Wong Tai Sin Temple has been on my list to visit for the longest time. It is easily accessible as it is literally right next to the MTR. I was so excited! Amar and I spontaneously started the day by picking an attraction randomly. We ended up having one of the most productive day. I really like this temple! It was so beautiful and after going through one semester of Religion and Spirituality in Asia, visiting the Big Buddha and the Temple makes so much sense and it definitely gave me a background on how the religion began and flourished.

This is a temple that houses three religions, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The temple commemorates famous monk named Wong Tai Sin who became a deity. It is believed that if you make a prayer and offer the Gods your truest sincerity and incense, what you request is what you get (有求必應). A lot of the traffic the temple receives are from those visitors whose prayers were answered returning to thank the Gods. Visitors also come in search for a spiritual answer. They light incense sticks, kneel before the main altar, make a wish, and shake a bamboo cylinder with fortune sticks. When one falls out, you exchange it for a piece of paper and there will be a person to interpret the fortune on the paper. It's a lot like looking into what your future holds.

The famous yin yang symbol represents universal oneness with the two colors rotating in a circle. It symbolizes duality like life and death or summer and winter.

It's interesting to see an old temple in the middle of all the high rise apartment buildings.

They provide free incense for visitors to present to the Gods (you're limited to 9 per person) but a lot of the people, to show their sincerity, brought their own HUGE incense sticks.

Also located in the same area next to the temple is the Good Wish Garden, which is beautifully put together. It reminded me a lot of the dramas that were dated back in the old times.

After exploring Wong Tai Sin, we decided to head to Diamond Hill to visit the Nan Lian Garden. In between high-rise buildings and Hollywood Plaza Shopping Mall, is the tranquil Nan Lian Garden, a public park built in the style of the Tang dynasty. It was such a peaceful setting and everything was so beautiful.

I always happen to take pictures of cute little kids in my pictures, like that time at Niagara Falls.

It was so nice. I can't wait to go back! It's also very nice that it's free admissions but the only downside is that it's out of the way from where I am. Anyways after walking around the Garden, I promised Amar that we would watch The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug since he has been waiting to watch it with me. I decided that we would head to the famous Tsim Sha Tsui (TST)'s iSquare mall to check movie times. The theater was so fancy and the shopping area was HUGE! We purchased our tickets and had time to grab something to eat before the movies and I decided to splurge for Budaoweng Hot Pot Cuisine. Mmmmm. It was probably the best dinner after a long day of exploring. It was pricey, but so worth it!

I love how they have these condiments for you to make your own dipping sauce. My favorite part.

The movie was also very good! It didn't even feel like the movie was close to three hours long. Our last destination for the night was the Avenue of Stars, which is like the LA Walk of Fame but Hong Kong version. It pays tribute to the famous actors and actresses while giving visitors a panoramic view of the city's glorious skyline. Loooove Victoria Harbour.