Technically most of this itinerary falls outside of Kowloon City proper and the city could be skipped over entirely if you do not want to deal with the hassle of taking a minibus because an MTR Station is not near...however, this is another different "slice" of Hong Kong and worth considering as an add-on to stops at Chi Lin Nunnery and Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple.
Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden are a five minute walk from the Diamond Hill metro station. Although the two sites are physically connected you will need to exit one before entering the other. Both are relatively quiet sites with no more than fifty people at a time. Chi Lin looks, feels, and is new. Ponds in the outer courtyard give way to a serene inner courtyard lined with several Buddha dedicated halls (which unfortunately you can't photograph). Nan Lian Garden compliments the nunnery well. There's a circle footpath around a pond with a golden pagoda and a Koi pond farther along. The Nunnery and Garden are Tang Dynasty style...although the current construction dates from only the 1990s.
Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden are a five minute walk from the Diamond Hill metro station. Although the two sites are physically connected you will need to exit one before entering the other. Both are relatively quiet sites with no more than fifty people at a time. Chi Lin looks, feels, and is new. Ponds in the outer courtyard give way to a serene inner courtyard lined with several Buddha dedicated halls (which unfortunately you can't photograph). Nan Lian Garden compliments the nunnery well. There's a circle footpath around a pond with a golden pagoda and a Koi pond farther along. The Nunnery and Garden are Tang Dynasty style...although the current construction dates from only the 1990s.
Chi Lin Nunnery - Outer Courtyard
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Chi Lin Nunnery - Inner Courtyard
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Nan Lian Garden - From Chi Lin Nunnery
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One metro stop west is Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple (the MTR station bears the Temple's name). This may be the best, largest, and liveliest of Hong Kong's temple - it's also listed as a Top Ten Site on Hong Kong's official tourist site. There are lots of tourists, similar to the big Buddha, however, there are also lots of practitioners. Rather than simply walking through and clicking photos there is enough activity here to stop and observe worshipers light incense and make offerings. There's a large wishing garden on the back side of the temple that's worth taking a walk through after you've seen the temple complex. The temple celebrates Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism and is a very popular Chinese New Year Eve location - the earlier you offer your incense, the better your luck in the New Year.
These three sites and the travel time in between should take about two hours. After Sik Sik Yuen temple you can use the Metro Station as an underpass and start walking south to Kowloon city. You can stop for milk tea at a Wong Tai Sing, a traditional Dai Pai Dong once you emerge from the MTR station.
These three sites and the travel time in between should take about two hours. After Sik Sik Yuen temple you can use the Metro Station as an underpass and start walking south to Kowloon city. You can stop for milk tea at a Wong Tai Sing, a traditional Dai Pai Dong once you emerge from the MTR station.
Wong Tai Sin Temple
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Wishing Garden
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Wong Tai Sing - Dai Pai Dong
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From the Wong Tai Sin MTR, it's about a twenty minute walk to Kowloon Walled City Park's East Gate entrance. At the turn of the 20th century this area was a former palace / walled fort. Refugees moved in during WWII and afterwards the block grew into an enormous squatter development. At its peak over 30,000 people lived densely packed in shoddily built homes that were stacked on top of one another. Triad gangs operated drug and prostitution rings out of many homes. In the late 1980s a forced eviction coerced residents out and the buildings were torn down and replaced with the current day park. The park contains some of the original fortifications but it's not nearly as engrossing as the former squatter apartments appear to be.
Historial Remnants
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New Park Area
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Former Walled City
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Just south of the Kowloon Walled City Park Park is Kowloon City aka "Thai Town" for the large population of Chinese Thais that have returned to Hong Kong and congregated in this neighborhood. Obviously it's a good place to eat a Thai dinner but you can also kill some time between the sites and dining by walking through the neighborhood streets and grabbing a coffee at Gladys Estate Coffee on Lion Rock Road and/or a Claypot rice meal at Tim Wok Leun one block west on Fuk Lo Tsun road - it's one of Hong Kong's better claypot rice dishes. For a Thai dinner, Amporn Thai, in the Kowloon City Market is a popular and good option. After dinner you can complete the Kowloon City "circuit" and purchase an Egg Tart from Hoover Cake Shop - the Egg Tart was a favorite of Chris Patton, Hong Kong's last English Governor.
The drawback to Kowloon City is that there's no MTR Station - you could walk back or catch a minibus to Mong Kok and take the MTR from there. There are also buses that head to Causeway Bay and Central directly but you'll want to research where the bus stop is in advance.
The drawback to Kowloon City is that there's no MTR Station - you could walk back or catch a minibus to Mong Kok and take the MTR from there. There are also buses that head to Causeway Bay and Central directly but you'll want to research where the bus stop is in advance.
Kowloon City
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Tim Wok Leun - Pork Claypot Rice
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Amporn Thai
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For additional Kowloon City photos see FLICKR ALBUM.