Roadside temples are not uncommon in Hong Kong. This one, however, caught my attention more than the usual. First of all, it was actually sitting in the street, rather than the sidewalk. (How did it get there? How come no one removed it?) Secondly, it was devoted to the God of the Sea. This, in itself, is not too surprising, since this is Aberdeen, where there is still a substantial number of boat people around. Thirdly, the woman worshipper was wearing the more traditional hat of the boat people, which is not seen too often these days.
Fourthly, the temple was smack in front of a branch of the Hong Kong Bank. One being a symbol of Hong Kong’s fading, traditional, maritime, Chinese past. While the other a symbol of the rising, modern, terrestrial, British (but also increasingly Chinese) present. I was just struck by the incongruence of the juxtaposition.
3 comments:
That's really bizarre. What day was it when you saw it there? It looks almost like HSBC hired them to remove a jinx from that branch or something! :-).
(Getting my web fix with very expensive Internet.)
It was Chinese New Year's Day, 2007. My conjecture was that the temple might have been there before the bank. In fact, perhaps before the building and the road as it is.
You mean it isn't temporary? It looks like it is from the photo.
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