Hong Kong & Macau - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 137

Mong Kok and traditional markets
North of Yau Ma Tei is Mong Kok . At the
corner of Nelson Street and Fa Yuen
Street, you can pick up incredibly cheap
hardware and bargain software at the
Mong Kok Computer Centre - though
that's only worthwhile if you really know
your electronics, as the sellers speak very
limited English. A few hundred metres
north of here in the direction of Prince
Edward MTR are two traditional
markets: Flower Market (daily
7am-7pm), in Flower Market Road, and
the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden (daily
7am-8pm), at the eastern end of the
same street, where it meets the MTR
flyover. he flower market is at its best
in the run-up to Chinese New Year,
when many people come to buy
chrysanthemums and orange trees to
decorate their apartments for good luck.
Many local men bring their own
songbirds to the Bird Garden for an
airing; as well as the hundreds of birds
on sale here, along with their intricately
designed bamboo cages, there are live
crickets - whose fate is bird-feed, and
you may see the birds being fed live
caterpillars held by chopsticks.

sprawling grounds filled with colourful,
incense-scented temple buildings, and
throngs of worshippers practising Taoism,
Buddhism and Confucianism - more
than any other temple in Hong Kong
(especially during Chinese New Year).
Big, bright and colourful, it offers a
glimpse into the practices of modern
Chinese religions: solemn devotees kneel
and pray, wave lighted incense sticks,
present food and drink to images of
deities, or have their fortune read with
chim (bamboo sticks), which are shaken
out of boxes onto the ground and
interpreted by on-site fortune-tellers.
One stop further east, Diamond Hill
MTR takes you to the tranquil Chi Lin
Nunnery (daily 9am-4.30pm) and Nan
Lian Garden (daily 7am-7pm; free). he
nunnery is a Tang Dynasty reproduction
and is built of wood, without the use of a
single nail, in striking contrast to the
tower blocks looming all around it. he
serene Nan Lian Garden has a circular
walk (around 1hr) that takes in a carp
pond, golden pagoda and a small bonsai
tree collection. here's an excellent
vegetarian restaurant here, specializing in
mushroom and vegetable dishes (lunch
from HK$100).

3

Outer Kowloon
Head a few hundred metres north of
Mong Kok and you reach Boundary
Street , which marks the symbolic
border between Kowloon and the
New Territories.
he main attractions in this area are
well to the northeast of Boundary Street.
he Sik Sik Wong Tai Sin Temple (daily
7am-5.30pm; suggested donation HK$2;
M

The New Territories
hey make up 86 percent of Hong
Kong's territory, yet the vast New
Territories are little-explored by visitors,
most of whom stick to Hong Kong Island
and Kowloon. here is so much to see
here, from temples, monasteries and the
remains of the original walled villages to
pristine beaches, marshlands for
birdwatching and hiking around the
Prover Cove Reservoir (see box, p.142).
Take the MTR northwest along the
West Rail Line to Tuen Mun, then switch
to Light Rail lines 610 or 615 and alight
at Tsing Shan Tsuen to hike up to the
Tsing Shan Monastery (daily 8am-8pm),
Hong Kong's oldest temple, founded
1500 years ago, rebuilt in 1926 and
accessible by a 30-minute steep walk
uphill. Parts of the iconic Bruce Lee film,
Enter the Dragon , were shot here, and
there's a slightly creepy charm to the
more decayed shrines.

Wong Tai Sin, exit B2) consists of

GETTING HIGH IN HONG KONG
For some of Hong Kong's best panoramas,
head for the Sky 100 observation deck
(1 Austin Road West, daily 10am-9pm;
HK$168; W sky100.com.hk; M Kowloon
Station) at the International Commerce
Centre - Hong Kong's highest skyscraper.
It sits on the building's 100th floor (nearly
400m up) and the 360-degree views,
supplemented by maps and interactive
exhibits, are particularly striking at night.