Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden

The Nan Lian Garden is a true escapism from the busy city. This tranquil oasis is landscaped over an area of 3.5 hectares, in which every hill, rock, body of water, plant and timber structure has been placed according to specific rules and methods. ‘Nan Lian’ literally means, South Lotus or ‘Lotus from the South’.

The Chi Lin Nunnery was founded in 1934 but was rebuilt in the 1990s following the style of Tang Dynasty traditional Chinese architecture. The present-day buildings are wood frame buildings built without the use of any iron nails. This construction is based on traditional Chinese architectural techniques dating from the Tang Dynasty that uses special interlocking systems cut into the wood to hold them in place. The Chi Lin Nunnery buildings are the only buildings to be built in this style in modern day Hong Kong. - Wikipedia. 

The Tanka community in Hong Kong

During our trip to Hong Kong we discovered a very interesting group of people in the Aberdeen harbour. Tankas, or boat people, are essentially fisherfolk living on junks and boats.  According to superstition, Tankas believe that a giant wave will sweep them away if they were to live on the shore.  However, the population of boat people is steadily declining due to pollution and the encroaching shoreline as land is reclaimed.