For lunch, I had dim sum for the first time at this big restaurant in TST. It was good and I ate a ton of food, but all the Hong Kong natives and Asian connoisseurs said that what I had was really crappy dim sum. So I'm excited to try the real thing.
We then headed to the Kowloon Walled City Park. Today it is a lovely park styled after a Qing Dynasty garden. 30 years ago, 30 thousand people lived in this tiny area of about 6.5 acres. It was controlled by gangs and was a center for gambling, drugs, and prostitution. When the UK's lease on Hong Kong was coming to an end, they decided to demolish the Walled City and turn it into a park. To learn more about its history, check out Wikipedia. It is a beautiful place to meditate and relax. I would probably go there again.
What the walled city looked like a few decades ago
Anika and I on the bus
The last stop on the cultural tour was Diamond Hill to see the Chi Lin Nunnery. The nunnery is based off of Tang Dynasty architecture, meaning that the whole place was built without using iron nails. Cool, right? The nunnery has a temple devoted to several Buddhas (yes, there is more than one). It was very beautiful, especially the altar for one of the Bodhisattvas. She was so beautiful. I definitely felt the spirituality of the place.
Across the street from the nunnery is the garden. I LOVED the garden. I could go there every day. It is absolutely very beautiful in there. There are waterfalls, pagodas, and water lilies. While I was there, I saw Buddhist monks lounging on benches talking to locals or meditating. I highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Hong Kong.
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