Kowloon Walled City Park

The Kowloon Walled City Park sits on the site of the city's most infamous settlement, the Kowloon Walled City which by a quirk of history remained outside British jurisdiction after Hong Kong became a colony. Lowell remembers this part of one of his tracting areas as a place that was off limits. It was filled with opium dens and was subject to other drug related concerns. In 1994 it was demolished and this park was built in its stead.

The canon pictured below was unearthed at the time of demolishion and was made in 1802. The granite pillars (pictured beneath the canon) containing the words South Gate and Kowloon Walled City were also found at the same time. Note the old rickshaw used in those earlier days.

Buddhist Temple Built in 1730

This temple was also on the way to the Kowloon Walled City Park and we found it interesting to note the reliefs on the wall above a door and also the very old weapons which are stored at the temple entrance in the picture top right (click on it for detail). It has now become a national historical site having been built in the year 1730!

Remembering Their Ancestors

On our way to the Kowloon Walled City Park, we passed the Kowloon Park Cemetery (bottom left and right) where those with enough money can actually afford to bury their dead. Most people don't have the funds and so cremation is the predominant practice. The food and incense sticks in the top picture are customary among Buddhists as an offering to their deceased ancestors. We saw this display on the street as we walked to the temple one morning.

I once heard about a conversation between a Westerner and an Oriental. The Westerner, after seeing just such a scene as this, asked the Oriental, "How long do you think it will take before your ancestors get up to eat this food?" The Oriental replied, "About as long as it takes your ancestors to get up and smell the flowers you leave on their graves!" When we returned along the street in the afternoon, the food was gone so I guess the Oriental's ancestors win because I've seen flowers get pretty wilted on our cemetery plots. In spite of it all, it is commendable that the Chinese do think frequently about their ancestors.

A Taste of Peking Duck

We went to a restaurant overlooking the harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui with the Pierces, Heatons, and Poons for a taste of Peking duck, a delicacy. The waitress with the red apron is carving our duck. Notice she is wearing a swine flu mask (common practice presently due the spreading epidemic). We discovered that the duck is really very tasty (combined with onion and a special hoisin sauce and wrapped in a small thin flour tortilla). We could see the famous harbor clock tower (built in 1921) out our window. The blue skyscraper is one of tallest buildings in Asia and was not here when we were on our first missions.

Another P-Day; Another Park

Elder Pierce was kind enough to walk with us to another park (North District Park) about 20 minutes from our apartment. These "green" areas seem to be all over the place and in the mornings they are filled with mostly older Chinese men and women who are obviously very health-conscious. They are out exercising or walking and many are in groups with a leader helping them go through the motions of Tai Chi or some other exercise program, some to music. The parks are very serene and relaxing. The water lilies in this pond are almost three feet in diameter! If you click on the group of women exercising, you can see a closer view of what goes on in many places throughout the vicinity.

All in a Regular Week

 

We are at the temple Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings and also on Wednesday afternoon through evening. The temple grounds, though limited in size, are still very beautiful and well-kept. The two sealing rooms are on the top floor of the temple; the two endowment rooms and the celestial room are on the next to the top floor. The lower three floors house a chapel, the mission offices, and residences of the mission president and the temple president. The baptistry is in the second basement level and the first basement level contains the laundry and a small cafeteria for the workers who bring their own meals.

On Sunday, we take a minibus for about a fifteen minute ride to attend the Sheung Shui Ward. There is a common phrase among the members that our building is the "Fanling Kirtland" because they think our chapel looks a lot like the Kirtland Temple.

Unusual Things Here

There are some very different things here we don't see at home: (Counter clockwise from the left) 1) Rambutan, a fruit Lowell loves, brought in from Thailand. 2) Rambutan with fruit exposed and half of skin removed. 3) Fruit cut in half with pit exposed. 4) A Chinese moon cake now being sold for the upcoming Mid Autumn Festival; this one with a "moon" (duck egg yolk) showing. 5) A large snail (as long as my hand) we saw in a little garden we passed through on our walk from the train station up to the temple.।

Train Trip to the New Area Office Building

On our first P-Day another couple, the Pierces, took us by train to Hong Kong Island to visit the new area office facility in Wan Chai. It is a 13 story building containing 3 beautiful chapels, 3 floors of classroom facilities and bishopric offices plus area offices and living quarters for the area presidency. The building manager, Brother Chan, took us on a tour. Afterwards we went across the street to a massive Chinese restaurant called Ho Choi and enjoyed dim sum (Chinese Hors d'œuvres - BBQ pork dumplings, shrimp rolls, etc) with traditional hot water (if you don't have tea) to drink. The fresh mango pudding was the best.

Here Comes the Train!

Exploring our Neighborhood

We took a walk on our day off to get a closeup view of what we can see out our apartment window. This is a Taoist temple. The inside was beautiful and we saw 3 Taoist priests dressed in red and black robes singing and tapping on drums and gongs. Unfortunately it wasn't appropriate to take a picture of them. Others were there worshipping by burning incense sticks (also common to Buddhism).

We were fascinated by this street worker with her broom made of a palm frond wired to a bamboo pole - note her hat with the hanging shade (click on picture to enlarge). We found a beautifully landscaped, shady park with a walking path winding through it. We passed numerous people (some in groups) doing their morning stretches, i.e. Chinese Tai Chi exercises. We hope to walk there often. There are many "green" spaces created now in this and other newer areas which is a nice change from the "cement city" (Hong Kong) that we knew 40 years ago.

The Fanling Apartment

We are living on the 20th floor of a highrise building. Two other couples live in other buildings in the same complex (12 buildings). Quarters are tight as can be seen here. There is about as much floor space as we previously enjoyed in just our family room alone but we are getting by. We won't have to spend much time cleaning! We have a beautiful view of a mountain peak out our window. There is a metal sliding door on the outside of our apartment door (much like you would see in a prison) which is standard fare here for security. The main floor entrance to this block in the series of buildings has a 24-hour watchman as does each of the other blocks.

Leaving the MTC and Arriving in Hong Kong

Our Temple/Mission president, Charles Goo, met us at the airport on Lantao Island and with his assistant engineer, drove us to our apartment in Fanling, New Territories where we were met by our hosting couple, Elder and Sister Ken and Kathryn Pierce. They were assigned to orient us and get us acclimated.




We left our friends, the Wans, at the MTC; then ran into them again at the SL Airport. They were headed to Taipei, Taiwan; we to Hong Kong, China.

Second Week at MTC

Our second week at the MTC was spent with 30 other couples applying principles from Preach My Gospel including teaching "investigators" and bearing testimony to single missionaries on the MTC campus. This week was also a very spiritual experience and many friendships were formed both with couples and teachers.



This is a couples' group picture but several had already departed for their fields of labor by this time.



Top left is the seldom-empty cafeteria. Bottom left is a night at the BYU Creamery celebrating birthdays and anniversaries (ours). Other pics are the Sevys, Wans, Strongs, Oakeys, Wheelers, Suttons, Andersons as well as the MTC teachers. We knew Elder Wan when we were on our first missions in Hong Kong and it was so much fun to spend time and practice our Cantonese with them .

First Week at MTC

We enjoyed our entire first week which was spent in training at the Provo Temple with Elder Rex Pinegar and his wife, Bonnie, who we have known since we were single living in adjacent wards and then again when they were president and matron of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Our daughter, Amy, dropped us off at the MTC and drove off with the car. We had decided not to go back and forth to stay at home, but rather to really enjoy the spirit of the MTC.

The Last Hoorah

Just days before leaving for the MTC, we spent time with friends 4-wheeling up Fairview Canyon---Susan's favorite place in the world, swimming with family at the Lindon Acquatics Center, and playing games with grandchildren at home.