Chi Lin Nunnery

This is one of my favourite places to come in Hong Kong. We came this time as part of our teachers only day outing and it was surprising the number of local teachers who had never visited here before. It’s a lovely little quite oasis from the bustling city life.
A short walk from Diamond Hill MTR and right beside Nan Lian gardens it’s a lovely day out.

5 Stars = Always looking to come back, always a super duper strong suggest for all to enjoy and experience.
Stunning.
Peaceful. Tranquil. Enlightening.
As with most places of worship, you feel here what life should be like. A life of harmony, shed the insecurities, embrace the now, live fully. Life before Adam and Eve ate that apple.
Here you will find the «Qi Lin» Nunnery. Sheltered on the left by the Mountain of Compassionate Clouds and guarded on the right by Lion Rock. The nunnery is home to about 60 nuns but we were here in the later hours so did not see them. The design and architecture is from the Tang Dynasty and follows feng shui principles.
NO nails were used! ONLY natural materials such as stone, wood, and clay. Little details like this are why this place is special.
The Hall of the Celestial Kings are the guardians of our world, protecting the Dharma. You will find the Buddha Maitreya here who will succeed Buddha Sakyamuni when the time is right. Also known as the Laughing Buddha, Maitreya is surrounded by images of the Celestial Kings. Pay your respects.
In the main courtyard you will find a few of my favorites. Avalokitesvera (Guan Yin) Goddess of Mercy. When you are in front of her/​him, you are supremely humbled and feel the compassion she/​he emanates. Just stand/​sit here and feel the warmth. Her love and dedication to humanity is the ultimate sacrifice as she could be a Buddha but chose not to and stay «behind» to be closer to humanity.
Another favorite, the Medicine Buddha. His medicine heals you through his teachings and he also helps you reach your goals. When you focus on his image, the blueness is so deep. It brings you into another realm, a quiet, serene feeling of healing. We all need healing.
Then there is Sakyamuni Buddha. The founder on Earth. You feel his holiness and grandness, yet the emptiness of how things should be. Don’t cling, don’t overconsume. Let the mind be blank.
All of this Holiness, this beauty, you feel in the clouds, in a faraway in a faraway land. Then you look up and notice you’re in the middle of a huge Metropolis that is Hong Kong! The irony.
No matter what bible you follow, be the best human you can be.

Just to wander out of Central and explore a bit today, we took the MTR to Diamond Hill to see the Chi Lin Nunnery and the adjacent Nan Lian Garden. What a great break from the city to simply take in nature and see the beauty in the SAR.
Although the nunnery is actually a lavish replica of a Tan Dynasty (AD 618 – 907), it is a really beautiful, clean, silent and meditative place. There are side halls that have impressive statues, including Sakyamuni Buddha and the Boddhisatva Guanyin. It appears to be an operating nunnery though because although closed to public, there is a large back side wing that look like housing that are clearly part of this nunnery. Although not technically historic (seeing that it was actually built in the 21^st century), it is so lovely and nice to see when we wandered around in the beautiful October day.
There are gardens, water and wooden pavilions. There is no fee to visit and they also have a lovely little gift shop. After you visit, absolutley go across the street to the Nian Lian Garden. You cannot see one without the other.

This is a beautiful little haven in the middle of all the hustle & bustle within the busy city of Hong Kong. Located in Diamond Hill, this peaceful little monastery is absolutely beautiful. Even if you aren’t a Buddhist, you’d find this little place so serene, peaceful and breathtaking.
There’s a wonderful pathway for you to walk around in as well as various temples should you wish to pray/​worship if you are a Buddhist. If you aren’t, you still get to walk around this little place admiring its beauty.
Be sure to try their vegetarian restaurant. The food there is to die for — especially their vegetarian platter. It’s not that traditional Canto style «mock meat» platter and rather, there is an interesting variety there.
Definitely worth a visit!

This is a paradise in the middle of Hong Kong. Its amazing to see an area with such a open space filled with plants and temples in one of the most population dense cities in the world.
The Chi Lin Nunnery is connected to the Nan Lian Garden. The garden itself is full of beautiful trees, stones, waterfalls, and lake houses. The nunnery part has the shrines and deities for praying to.
This is a definite must go if you need a break from the fast pace of the city. Best part is, entering is completely free.

This Buddhist temple is relaxing and beautiful. Once you walk onto the temple grounds you are transported away from the Hong Kong hustle and bustle and into a peaceful and calming environment. We took about 2 hours to walk the temple grounds and admire the beautiful gardens. One of my favorite sites in Hong Kong.

This is my favorite Buddhist temple in Hong Kong. It’s just a few minutes’ walk from the MTR station but once you walk in, you are totally transported into another world. You just feel a tranquility and peacefulness wash over you, like you’ve left your burden at the door. You totally think you’re transported to another time and place, until you look up and notice that, in the background, there are many tall buildings. But they all feel so far away.
There is the temple area, and across the street, the garden.
The buildings are all very beautiful. It is based on the Tang dynasty construction, and no nail was used, as authentic to historical facts. As Tang was when Japan sent her scholars to China to study various arts and culture, many aspects of Japanese culture, including kimono, tea ceremony and Buddhism, are heavily influenced by Tang culture. Therefore, one may feel that the place looks very Japanese, when it was the Japanese trying to make their places looked Chinese.
I recommend coming in the morning, when it’s less crowded.

About a five minute walk from Diamond Hill MTR station is this remarkable large Buddhist temple complex which was founded in the 1930s. You wouldn’t believe you were just a stone’s throw from a busy main road, as the noise from outside disappears when you enter and you find yourself in a peaceful oasis to collect your thoughts.
At first glance you’d think the buildings were very old, so I was surprised to find out that what you see was rebuilt completely out of wood in the late 1990s without using any metal — no nuts, bolts or nails, nothing!
You can while away an hour or so wandering through the temple halls and the large gardens, complete with bonsai trees and decorative ponds. A definite must see.
Tip: The halls and Chinese garden in front of the nunnery are open to the public daily and it’s free entry.

Chi Lin Nunnery is next to Nan Lian Garden, and often done in conjunction with the park as a tour for locals and tourists alike.
The nunnery is one of the largest Buddhist complexes in Hong Kong and covers a space of more than 33,000 square meters. However, a lot of this is off limits to the public, so the touring area is manageable in under an hour or two. It’s very similar to the Nan Lian Garden, in that it follows with the Tang architecture, with wooden framed buildings without obvious nails — a testament to the Buddhist composition and balance of nature and living. Many Buddhist monks have made a home here since the 1930s.
The layout of the public part of the nunnery has two parts — there’s the Lotus Pond Garden which is a courtyard that I first encountered. It’s seamlessly symmetrical with ponds, Bonsai trees and small lantern posts. The second part is the Hall of Celestial Kings, and to enter I had to pass through the Sam Mun or series of ‘three gates’ that represent the Buddhist pillars of compassion, wisdom and skillful means. The temple halls house the statues of Sakyamuni Buddha (the god of Mercy) as well as other bodhisattvas. The shrines are constructed from gold, clay, wood and stone. It was very peaceful.
Below the complex is a restaurant, with vegetarian dishes and cheap dim sum — though the surrounding area of Diamond Hill and Kowloon Tong more broadly has plenty of food on offer as well, if you’re in the mood for meat. Which I am on most days.
In all, a great place to do a mosey about, to get out of the urban sprawl, but perhaps don’t forget you’re not too far out from some popular foodie haunts in Kowloon.