China Chronicles - Second Installment

Day 3: Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, New Territories

My friend had the day off and we headed to the Temple of 10,000 Buddha’s in the New Territories. The path to the temple was flanked by golden Buddha statues in different postures each representing a different aspect of the Buddha. My favorite was a cheery fellow who sat with a serene yet mischievous look on his face while calmly opening his sternum to reveal a meditating Buddha within. His soul was enlightened and strong within him and he had no trouble sharing his wisdom with others. Yet he bared his soul in a slightly shocking manner demanding notice from even the coldest hearts, and the mischievous look on his face made it clear that he knew exactly what he was doing.

The temple itself was at the top of the path and its interior was a wonder with row upon row of tiny Buddha figurines covering the walls from floor to ceiling. Conical pillars housed more tiny Buddhas each individually lit with a tiny fairy light and on the main alter three large Buddha statues and a replica of the temple’s founding monk completed the picture. Despite its name the monastery contains more than 10,000 Buddhas and the main temple alone houses more than 12,000. In the main courtyard older Chinese women moved from alter to alter elegantly bowing with incense sticks and worshipping as the smoke curled into the still air. We tried to follow their lead, but we discovered that worship takes practice as we burned ourselves on the incense pots and dropped hot ash onto our sandaled feet. We provided locals with some entertainment and I think the Gods appreciated our trying - especially Kwan Yin who is the Goddess of Mercy and self compassion.

Day 4: Hong Kong Island Tour and the Fish, Flower and Bird Markets of Mongkok

We started the day with Dim Sum and I got to try deep fried chicken feet (quite tasty). Then we took a ferry to Aberdeen, a harbor on the southern shore of Hong Kong Island where we marveled at row upon row of traditional fishing boats and sampans. From Aberdeen we hopped on a minibus to Kennedy Town and my friend showed me the huge condominium towers where nearly all of her students live. In her kindergarten they don’t ask the kids which street they live on but rather which floor! From the upper class condos we walked into a poorer region of town where the buildings were tightly packed and blackened by acid rain, and the windows contained rusting AC units that dribbled condensation onto the street below. A huge highway flyover passed between the buildings, so close to the windows that residents could spit on passing cars!

From Kennedy Town we grabbed a double-decker tram and rumbled toWan Chai where we wandered through a sea food market. The Cantonese take fresh food very seriously and we watched as live fish were removed from buckets, butchered on spot and laid out on display with their hearts still beating! That’s fresh. Although many Westerners find this practice cruel, I feel that keeping meat products alive as long as possible is a practical way to stave off food poisoning in regions where refrigeration is scare. After all, the packaged and frozen meat we eat is also butchered; we are simply removed from the reality of the kill.

From Wan Chai we headed to Victoria Park where thousands of the city’s amahs (live in maids and nannies) were camped out for a festival. Hong Kong has over 250,000 foreign domestic workers (mostly women amahs) and on Sundays they take to the streets, parks and sidewalks to talk, laugh and enjoy their day off. It's really something to see, and for me it almost seemed like social action. It is as if hundreds of thousands of workers are saying "Remember us. We are a huge presence. We are the ones who run the houses and raise the children here".

We ended the day back in Mongkok where we headed to the fish market (goldfish in baggies everywhere), flower market and Yuen Po Bird Garden. This bird market has been around for years and is a testimony to the centuries old Chinese tradition of keeping songbirds as pets. But times do change, and today the market is posted with signs that read: The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department regularly collects specimens at the Yuen Po Bird Garden, Mongkok for testing. To date, all specimens have given negative test results for the H5N1 Influenza virus.

China Chronicles - First Installment

Day 1: Sheung Wan, the Mid-levels and Central, Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

After 15 hours of travel, including an 11 hour flight, I thought I would need a rest before touring Hong Kong, but I was wrong. I got off the plane and hit the ground running, so inspired by the skyscrapers, the hordes of people and the hot humid air (that reminded me of Panama) that my fatigue evaporated. I checked my pack and went out to explore.

As expected the first thing I did was get lost. But not in winding alleys with Chinese only signs. Nope, I got lost in the concourse section of a huge skyscraper called the IFC (International Finance Center). After consulting my map and fuelling up with caffeine, I walked west into the Sheung Wan district – and I entered a different world. Sheung Wan is a traditionally Chinese neighborhood with narrow alleys, Chinese only signs and hundreds of tiny shops selling the raw ingredients for Chinese medicines – dried fish, seahorses, huge mushrooms, dried geckos on a stick, shark fins and a huge number of things I couldn’t identify. The sights and smells reminded me a bit of Toronto's Chinatown, until I found my first temple. The Man Mo temple in Sheung Wan was built in 1847 and was like nothing I’ve ever seen in Toronto. The interior was beautifully decorated in red and gold, and the air was thick with sandalwood smoke from huge incense coils that hung from the ceiling.

From the temple I wandered east and encountered the central-mid-levels escalator. One of Hong Kong’s long-standing transport problems has been that many middle class residents of the mid-levels, a residential district on the lower slope of Victoria Peak, work down in Central. The roads are narrow and the distance is more vertical than horizontal creating a traffic nightmare. The solution is ingenious, a huge escalator system consisting of 3 moving walkways and 20 elevated escalators. It is 800 meters long, takes 20 minutes to ride and is the world’s longest.

Later, in Central (the central business district) I craned my neck at the architecturally famous Bank of China building, the Lippo towers, and the robotic HSBC tower, all juxtaposed against older colonial buildings like the Government House and St. John’s Cathedral.

In the evening a friend who is teaching in Hong Kong and I took the typical tourist trip on the Star Ferry across Victoria harbor for a stunning view of the skyline. Then we used the ridiculously posh ladies room at the Peninsula Hotel for an elevated look (yes, the toilets have a view). Later we wandered the tourist shopping Mecca of Tsim Sha Tsui where I enjoyed a “1000 year old egg”. In fact, the duck egg was really only about a month or two old and preserved in lime solution which turns the egg white green and the yolk greenish black – yummy.

Day 2: Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island

I woke to bird song and tropical sunshine. Inspired, I took Hong Kong’s wonderfully efficient subway (MTR) out to Lantau Island. Lantau is almost twice the size of Hong Kong Island and its mountains rise to nearly 1000m and are covered with lush green scrub forest. From the subway station I took a bus into the mountains with destination the Po Lin (Precious Lotus) monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha). Before visiting the monastery I lunched on traditional Chinese fish ball soup and feeling daring decided to try the local condiments and added what I thought was seasoned salt to my meal. It was sugar. Luckily I didn’t add much, and roaring with laughter the locals set me straight.

The Big Buddha was in the clouds by the time I finished eating so I wandered the temple where the air was thick with sandalwood. From the temple I walked a short distance to the path of wisdom, a large wooden sculpture that consists of many halved logs arranged in a figure eight. On the flat face of each log are Chinese characters that teach the Heart Sutra (Wisdom of Emptiness). Fittingly, the flat face on the highest log, representing true enlightenment, is empty.

I’ve copied the English translation of the Heart Sutra verbatim for reference:

Everything is dependently arisen: an event occurs only if the adequacy of conditions obtains. Since everything is dependently arisen, there is no such thing as an eternally abiding entity. When one acquires this wisdom of emptiness one will realize that all physical and mental events are in a constant process of change, and accordingly everything can be changed by modifying conditions. Understanding the relativity of all standpoints will also prevent one from becoming irrationally attached to things. In this way, one will come to be free of all mental obstructions, and to attain perfect harmony and bliss.

After the path of wisdom I was ready to visit Big Buddha. He was still covered in mist when I got to him, but for me the symbolism was perfect. I could see the outline of something huge before me, but it wasn’t quite clear – kind of like "enlightenment", I can see it vaguely and I know it's big, but I know I am not there yet.