Tin Hau Temple, Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong

After our lunch at Tin Lung Heen at the Ritz-Carlton in West Kowloon, I thought I would have a little walk around Kowloon area, in particularly Yau Ma Tei, (not Nathan Rd where I've walked many times). I start the walk with Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei.

For those who're interested in Chinese mythology, especially Taoism, or just have a look at the exotic and the bewildering Chinese religious iconography, visits to temple is a fun and free way to learn it. Outside weekends and religious festivals, they're quiet contemplative place that are oases of the hustle and bustle of busy Kowloon.

As I mentioned in my travel log about my visit to Tin Hau Temple in Aberdeen, Hong Kong that because HK was - and in a few remaining pockets that still is  - a fishing village, this leads to the widespread worship of Tin Hau (or Empress of Heaven), which is prayed to by fishermen for her protection from the peril of the sea (for this job description, she's sometimes also known as Goddess of the Sea, or Goddess of Seafarers). And so we can expect there exist a number of Tin Hau temples in HK.

The paifang (or gateway) that marks the entrance to
the park that locates in front of Tin Hau Temple

This temple is dated as far back as 1800.

For many tourists, even if they don't know about Tin Hau Temple, they would've probably heard of Temple Street. It's Tin Hau Temple that gives rise to the name of that street, which runs off the Temple's ground (see above map). With Tin Hau being the fishermen's protector, once upon a time not so long ago, the temple was adjacent to the water, but widespread land reclamation in HK has made this temple landlocked as it is today.

Decoration on top of the temple's roof
(Click to enlarge)

As mentioned before, the top of the roof of a Taoist temple is richly decorated by a pair of dragons reaching for the purple pearl. Additionally, a carp appears to leap up to reach for the same pearl. Fish symbolises abundance in Chinese culture. For the fishing community, the fish is also their livelihood, and so adds an extra dimension to the symbolism. Typically there's also sculptural scenes from traditional Chinese operas.


Because Kowloon is more densely populated than Aberdeen, you can expect that this Tin Hau Temple is larger than the Aberdeen counterpart. Naturally, it's more packed with religious icons.

The temple's namesake goddess. She's draped in a silky embroidered robe with
feminine motif of lotus and pearl necklaces.
Quite different from the more masculine Tin Hau's counterpart in Aberdeen.

"With the Wind Ears" and "Keeper of the Book"

"Thousand Miles Eye" and "Keeper of the Golden Seal"

If you visit or read my post on Tin Hau Temple in Aberdeen above, you would have met our good monster duo "Thousand Miles Eye" and "With the Wind Ears". They're holding different weapons in the 2 Tin Hau temples, but they're unmistakably the same pair of good old friendly monsters with fearsome faces and their distinct features of eye and ears that set them apart.

Alternatively, if you have read 1 of the 4 Chinese Classic novel Journey to the West, or watch the myriad of film and animation adaptions, you would have met this pair near the very beginning of the story. When the magic monkey was hatched out of its supernatural rock, his birth created a such quake that literally rocked the Heavenly Palace, and so the Jade Emperor sent these 2 to find out what caused such a racket down below on Earth. After all, only them possess such video and audio equipment in their heads that allow them to see and hear things so far away.


In addition to this pair of monsters is another pair of officials (in Ming dynasty fashion) standing next to them. They're the Keepers of important things: "The keeper of the Book", and "The Keeper of the Golden Seal" . Most people call the 1st bloke the Book Keeper. I want to avoid that he could be unintentionally mistaken for people working in a professional related to accountancy. The Keeper of the Book doesn't work with numbers at all (well, let's say numeracy isn't an important prerequisite for this job), he works with words, or names. Having said that, there's a goddess actually called the Keeper of the Book. Ok, we can't win.

As for the seal, it's always considered a symbol of power - in fact, the embodiment - of the Emperor, or in this case, Empress. It's not unlike the sceptre or orb that some European monarchs holding in their majestic poses (in statues or portraits).

Unlike the sceptre or orb, the seal has a practical use other than a symbol. All imperial documents would have been stamped with this seal to seal its authenticity of authority. On 2nd thought, the spectre makes a handy back-scratcher while the orb makes excellent door stopper. I stand corrected.

Atrium of the main temple hall

Incense or joss coils

As usual, there's a plethora of Taoist deities accompanied the main deity of Tin Hau.

This side altar is most likely a altar for Guan Gong (關公) or Lord Guan - the deified
 General Guan Yu.
But he also shares the altar with a number of other deities.
Well, HK is very crowded, and so are its metro, trams, altars or heaven. As below, so above.

An (Dutch sounding) European family offering some incense burning to the temple. Gods bless them!

As usual, there aren't just many altars within a temple halls, except for the smallest of temples, there're also several temple halls within a temple complex.

Oil lamp for your convenience for burning joss sticks. No need to BYO matches or lighter.

Shadows of incense/joss coils cast on the ground

Bai Wuchang (白無常)

At a little corner on the ground is a small altar with several figurines of various deities. This guy with a tall hat and his tongue hanging out isn't a band member of Kiss. His tongue is far longer. He's Bai Wuchang, meaning White Impermanence. He's a member of a pair called Heibai Wuchang (黑白無常), or Black-White Impermanence.

Yin-Yang symbol that captures the essence of Taoism of Duality.
Taoists believe all forms come from the
dynamic (indicated by wavy line) alternations of 2 polar opposite forms.

Yes, as you have noticed by now, there're a lot of pairing of deities. Taoism loves duality (in this case, black and white). But they aren't really Taoist deities, but rather Chinese folk legend. But Taoism, folk legends, Buddhism, etc, are all blended into a harmonious whole that made up the Chinese religion.

They're working in Hell, and reporting to the better known Ox-Head and Horse-Face (another duo). You'll meet them in one of the temple within Tin Hau temple.

There're lots of other deities in this main temple alone. I won't go through all them. Chinese mythology is "deities mountain, deities sea" (神山神海). Have fun figuring it out yourself.

Next to the main temple in Tin Hau Temple is the City God Temple (城隍廟 Chenghuangmiao in Mandarin). Foreigners who have been to Shanghai would've probably heard of this name. Forget about that. There's nothing like it except in name only.

Entrance of City God Temple.

The wooden couplet hanging on either side of the door warn visitors that this is the gateway into a Chinese netherworld. Or more correctly, a place for judgement of your worldly sins. The couplet basically says (my humble translation),

"The legal punishment of this world may have been spared.
The moral dragnet of the underworld can't be escaped."

Enter at your own peril...let's do it. And so I stepped in.

Altar showing King Yama (閻羅王) in the middle, and various
other judges on both sides of him

King Yama, sometimes called Judge of the Dead, King of the Law (of Karma). When sinners descend to Hell, they will be judged by various judges.

Let's have a closer look at them.

Right side of the altar

Our partner-in-Hell Hei Wuchang is standing at the extreme right with his long dangling tongue. His bosses Horse-Face and Ox-Head are on the left. A sinner is being shackled, and its leash being held by Ox-Head. He's waiting to be judged.

On the extreme left of the altar is Bai Wuchang

"Wuchang" is translated as "Impermanence" here. In everyday usage, this word has the implication of some unexpected event, especially death. The 2 Wuchangs embody the spirit of impermanence, which is a central idea to both Taoism and Buddhism. And they're the foot soldiers of Hell, which is the final destiny and destination for all. The ultimate expression of impermanence of human existence.

To find out more about Chinese Hell, you can read my visit to the Ten Courts of Hell in Haw Par Villa in Singapore for one hell of a good time. Better still, visit there in person.


To cheer yourself up and to pray for less suffering of any kind, we can go to Guanyin Temple, which locates 2 doors from Tin Hau altar. Guanyin is arguably more popular than Tin Hau. So it's not a surprise to find her here. She's everywhere in both sense of the word.

Guanyin Temple

A British tourist or expat asking for instruction for offering to Guanyin

In one of the side halls in the temple, there's a worship of rocks, which presents the animism aspect of the Chinese religion. Standing here looking at this scene, one can very easily appreciate how the ancients moved by its mystical , ethereal otherworldly quality produced by smoke and sunbeams. For a moment, you're transported to a remote mountainous area far removed from the ultra-modernity of HK.


Many things to look at and study. One of the most interesting and colourful aspect of Chinese culture. Can be quite fascinating if you give it a chance to understand it. It's anything but boring.

Dining at Tin Lung Heen at Ritz-Carlton in ICC, Hong Kong

102F with 2 Aerial Views.  2 Stars Eating Leads to Paying with 2 Limbs.

When I stayed in HK for a few months in 2009, ICC was taking shape. The construction completed in 2011, and snatched the title from IFC being the tallest building in HK. What's interesting is that most supertalls (buildings higher than 300m) tend to be erected in HK Island (where the CBD is located), none are located in Kowloon. As far as the supertall, ICC stands alone, dwarfing the surrounding Kowloon, facing off the HK financial centre across the harbour like a Mexican (or is it Chinese?) stand off.

ICC has a double-decked elevator. It's one elevator stacked on top of another to save space. Instead of having elevators side by side, they're on top of another. To make it work, it has to be very smart elevators.

Left:  ICC emerged from the clouds. Both photos were taken from The Peak on Feb 2009

Naturally, on this visit to HK, we want to check out this Kowloon's supertall. We want to make a (short) day trip out of this by starting with yum-cha at Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒). After lunch, we would do some walkabout of the Ritz-Carlton, ICC Elements, the promenade, and finally a little exploration of the nearby neighbourhood of Kowloon.

ICC stands tall on the opposite side from the peak.
This panoramic photo and the cloud-filled photos above were taken within an hour apart. How quickly the clouds dispersed.
(Click to enlarge)

Not a pano, but it shows ICC tower stands tall more clearly on the opposite Kowloon shore.
Even before ICC is finished completion, you can see that it's taller than than IFC (because it's further away from the Peak)

The Ritz-Carlton used to be located in the more upscale Central district. It had closed down its operation in 2008, and re-opened in ICC in 2011.

Tin Lung Heen is part of the Ritz-Carlton. Located on 102nd floor, which is actually the lowest or "ground" floor for the Ritz-Carlton that takes up 102F to 118F in ICC, making it one of the tallest hotels in the world.



Since the restaurant is awarded with 2 Michelin stars, you can expect its food and services to be of high standard. While I can eat at a lower price with better tastes elsewhere with the same dishes we order here. My palate is blind and can't see the 2 stars, but my starry eyes can see the 102F aerial view. My eyes win this time, and it costs my 2 limbs (an arm and a leg). We booked for a window table before we came to HK. We wouldn't dine here at all if one wasn't available.

Having said that, there're many tallest buildings in Asian cities where they charge you a hefty fee to go up to their observation towers for a look (e.g. Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, Taipei 101). If you view it from this perspective, the menu prices become quite low.

A view to a meal

From Tin Lung Heen, you won't see the iconic HK CBD view. Instead, you will look toward west of HK. There, you'll see the world's noted Port of Hong Kong, and its container terminals, Tsing Yi Island, and the Nong Shuen Chau Bridge that connect Tsing Yi island to Kowloon Peninsula.

Aerial view showing Ngon Shuen Chau Bridge (昂船洲橋) and container ports,
and the busy port traffic.
HK Disneyland is just off the photo on the left of Tsing Yi

Pano sweep of HK's west

Breakwater of the New Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter

Barges with cranes in the shelter

One of a point or corner of Stonecutters island (昂船洲) with
 beautiful strewn rocks near its beach

All the above and more could be seen from Tin Lung Heen restaurant while we chow down our dim sims.

I don't mind at all viewing at this side of HK because we have seen the "front-on" view of HK many times, and this side of HK is new and refreshing for us. For the 1st-time visitors or those who want to dine in front of the iconic HK Central district, you can eat in Tosca - an Italian restaurant with 1 Michelin star (if you must). The lowest budget would be to grab a drink at Ozone Bar (minimum charge is an outrageous grand total of $10 HKD = $1.50 USD). We could do that, but we aren't drinkers, and Ada is a dim sims' addict, so Tin Lung Heen it is.

After lunch, I stepped into Ozone Bar for a quick snap of their window view. So it costs nothing to snap this iconic view after all. But if you dun mind shelling out a few bucks, you can enjoy the view while sipping your fave c/mocktails. Can't really complain, can you?

Aerial view of HK CBD from Ozone Bar.

Ozone Bar

Tin Hau Temple, Aberdeen Hong Kong

After about an hour of the leisurely walk around the Aberdeen Promenade, Hong Kong, I headed into Aberdeen town centre. In particular, my next stop is going to be Tin Hau Temple (天后古廟).

Aberdeen's Tin Hau Temple is located at the intersection of Aberdeen Main Rd and Aberdeen Reservoir Rd

Main entrance

From the outside, Taoist temple can be easily recognised with its elaborate roof's decorations.
Usually there's a pair of dragons (just outside the photo). 
Buddhist temples roofs are quite plain without little or no decorations.

In the Taoist Heaven, Tin Hau (天后) is translated literally as the Empress of Heaven (aka Queen of Heaven). In the neighbouring Macau, she's better known as Mazu (媽祖), which literally means Mother-Ancestor (or Ancestral Mother).

Left:  Tin Hau statue in the main altar in red Empress regalia embroidered with dragons (interestingly not phoenix) design. Above:  Closeup of Tin Hau wearing an empress' crown

Remembering that Aberdeen - and indeed the whole of HK - is a fishing village once upon a time. Aberdeen still retains some character of a fishing village. So you can expect there're at least several Tin Hau temples in HK, not the least, in Aberdeen: the original HK. This is because Tin Hau is worshiped by seafarers and fishermen in the Chinese communities. It's believed that she rules the waves (Britainia also claimed such power).

Tin Hau is franked by 2 fierce looking guarding generals:
"Thousand Miles Eye" (千里眼, Qianli Yan) and "With-the-Wind Ear" (順風耳 Shunfeng Er). 

These 2 generals aren't just her body guards, but her friends. In fact, once upon a time, her pursuers, in other words, wannabe boyfriends. Looks like most of statues in this temples are made in lacquered woods. Maybe she finds them a bit wooden?

"Thousand Miles Eye". He has a 3rd eye on his forehead to enable him to have amazing telescope vision.

"With the Wind Ears". Notice the size and shape  his ears are such that it enables him to  hear sounds that are very far away.

"Thousand Miles Eye" is a singular eye appears in the forehead. The Hindu believes this is the location of the Third Eye Chakra. In some cultures, this is the location of the so-called 3rd Eye. Apparently, Chinese too has such a concept. It seems quite universal. This leads scientists to suspect that there's something to it.

Some mystic schools believe this 3rd Eye refers to the pineal gland, which is located just behind the 3rd Eye. It's quite interesting - in fact spooky - that the pineal gland is light sensitive. Why should it be light sensitive when it's inside the skull with no exposure to light?

This begs the question, how did the ancients know about it? Is it just coincidence, and there's something more to it? Weird, isn't it?


Her main altar are franked by 2 side altars with Taoist deities.

Ancient physician Hua Tuo (華佗)

Tin Hau figurine

God of Wealth (财帛星君 Cai Bo Xing Jun)

At first, I was surprise that statue of Hua Tuo is found in this temple. Hua Tuo to TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) is what Hippocrates is to the ancient Greek medicine. While the traditional Greek medicine is no longer mainstream in the West, TCM is very much alive in Chinese communities. While the West isn't practising ancient Greek medicine, but his spirit lives on in the Hippocratic Oath today.

Chinese knows about Hua Tuo via the Chinese classics Romance of the Three Kingdoms where he performed surgery on Guan Yu, and suggested performing brain surgery on Cao Cao to cure his chronic headaches (possibly caused by brain tumour). Yes, you hear me right, brain surgery in the 2nd century.

Being notoriously suspicious by nature, Cao Cao ordered his death. While waiting to be executed in the prison, Hua Tuo wrote his masterpiece in a hurry. No wonder Chinese today don't like Cao Cao.

At first I was surprise by his appearance in this temple. Deified historical figure isn't anything new in Chinese or many other cultures. For example, Guan Yu was deified as a god. On second thought, his presence shouldn't be come as a surprise at all.

What are the main blessings devotees come to pray for ? For fishermen (and seafarers), safety at sea is the most important. This is Tin Hau's jurisdiction. The other 2 important things in life are, of course, health and wealth. These 3 deities simply embody the devotees' 3 main concerns.

Goddess bless you !

Pray hard, work hard. Looks like there's some serious praying going on here. Is she praying for work promotion or a date, perhaps? Maybe both, and in that order. Can she pray for more than one thing? Is there a quota on how many prayers can occur at a given time? What about prayer quota on a weekly, a monthly basis? Where can I get the instruction manual? Can I pray for an instruction manual? What's the instruction for praying for instruction manual? Just playing the Devil's Advocate...

Incense coils suspended from the ceiling with bottom ashtrays.

Except for the smallest of temples, most Taoist temples are temple complexes that house different halls within the complex. Just like chapels within a church.

Side circular entrances to the main hall of Tin Hau as well as Guayin and Wong Tai Sin halls.

Above:  Signboard for Guanyin "Attic" (small temple). Right: Guanyin statue

Guanyin is another Taoist goddess, who's even more popular than Tin Hau because of her broad jurisdiction. In other words, devotees can come to her for everything.

Above:  Signboard for Wong Tai Sin. Left: Wong Tai Sin statue

Wong Tai Sin (黃大仙 Great Immortal Wong) is very popular in HK, and Zhejiang. Unlike the 2 above mentioned Taoist goddesses, who are also very popular in many Chinese communities in and especially outside Mainland China. It was due to unique historical situation that makes Wong Tai Sin being worshipped in HK.

According to my uncle, who's an amateur monk (for the lack of a better term, meaning he's engineer by trade and a monk by passion. He works closely with temples, but he retains his secular life) told me that Wong Tai Sin is something like HK's patron saint (borrowing Christianity's terminology, St. George is the patron saint of England, St. Patrick is the patron saint of you-know-what country (Guinness anyone?), and St. Francis or San Francesco is the patron saint of Italy, and so on).

There're other minor Taoist deities that I'll leave you to explore yourself.

Left:  Burnt offering incinerator Above:  Aberdeen Baptist Church locates just behind Tin Hau Temple, side by side like ebony and ivory on a piano, with the church kinda looking over the shoulder of the temple.

Just a few mins before 5pm, smoke started to billow from the burnt offering incinerator. Since nobody except for me in the temple, I suspect this is a closing ritual for this temple. As he closes the gate, the temple keeper saw me and said that he thought that I had left. He said that I was lucky that he saw me before he locked the gate. I'm neither Spiderman nor a parkour expert, but to climb over a 1m tall gate, i can manage You can see the short gate in the 2nd photo from the top). There's little chance I'll spend the night in this temple (would be a very interesting experience, although the cop wouldn't buy my lame excuse. 'Lame', get it?).

While I'm thinking of going to visit St. Peter's Church and its dead quiet neighour the Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery (who doesn't want to visit cemetery?), but daylights are dying off, and so is my energy level. I'll have to do that in Ada's next visit to the Horizon Plaza.

When you tour Europe, you visit churches and cathedrals, why shouldn't you visit temples while you're in HK?

I also visited the larger Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon. To read it, click here.