My mission this week was to explore as much of Hong Kong as possible with all the free time I have over break. To fill up some of this time a few of us decided to celebrate with the locals and visit a few of the popular temples for New Year.
First stop was Man Mo Temple located in Central just off of Hollywood Road. Man Mo Temple is a temple for the worship of the civil/literature god Man Tai and martial god Mo Tai (hints the temple's name). It is a popular spot to wish for exam success!
The temple was full of worshipers for the New Year and inside was an unforgettable sight. The altars were full of New Year offerings, incense sticks burned everywhere, and the incense coils filled the room with a thick cloud of smoke. There were also lines of people to strike the gong and bell which in addition to all the spoken prayers echoed throughout the temple.
The next temple I visited was Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon. It was a little crowded (and by that I mean a lot crowded) so we weren't able to go inside but I did take a few pictures and I definitely plan on making a trip back!
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| New Year decorations for sale |
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| Making an offering and prayers |
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Incense Burning
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After the short visit to the temple Haley and I hoped on a random bus and stayed on it until we felt like getting off. Sometimes it really is not knowing where you are going! We ended up in Yau Ma Tei/ Mong Kok area and stumbled upon the Jade Market (it was closed) and also a very authentic (and by that I mean local) street market. A lot of the vendors were selling vegetables and a few sold fish. We even had a fish jump out of its tank right in front of us! The locals all pointed and laughed of course.
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| Selling "gently used" merchandise |
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| Closed for New Year |
After a long day exploring temples and finding local markets we headed back to City U!
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