I KNOW what you did in Hong Kong. We’re probably the same. I’m not alone when I say that I’ve ticked the popular destinations off the list on the first visit. I visited Ocean Park in 1996 (never been back since), Disneyland was in 2009 (came back a couple of times) and Victoria Peak in 2016 (yes, it took that long, believe it or not).
What was constant with each visit was malling, ferry rides on Victoria Harbor, dining in the favorite restaurants, or stay in the hotel and enjoy its amenities. I try to squeeze in a visit to one or two new places on each visit. The revitalization projects of PMQ and Tai Kwun are quite interesting. There’s no template I follow. I’m just getting old (grin).
I love holy places. I seek them out whenever I visit a new place. However, temple visits never crossed my mind whenever I go to HK. Weird, I know. Maybe food and shopping trumps everything, and why I haven’t explored much of the place.
But I adhere to my “see a new place with every trip” rule. On the most recent trip to HK, it happened to a temple — Man Mo Temple. Thank you Hong Kong Tourism Board and Cathay Pacific for pointing me to that direction.
Apparently, there are several Man Mo temples in HK and the most worshipped in is found along Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan. It was built in 1847 and is the largest Man Mo temple in Hong Kong to date. In 2009, it was listed as a Grade I historic building and preserved as a Declared Monument.
Man Mo (“Man” means “civil” and “Mo” means “martial”) venerates the two gods the temple was named for. They were once humans. The Civil God was known as Cheung Ah Tse (born 287AD) had “jurisdiction over the destinies of the lives of government officials”; and the Martial God was Kwan Tai (born 160AD) and was a great warrior and always associated with righteousness and loyalty.
So why is this a highly-worshipped temple in busy Hong Kong? Competition in HK’s corporate world is stiff and prayers can help a great deal.
Man Mo Temple is at 124-126 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island.
Hours: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
How to get there: 1. Take Bus 26 outside Pacific Place at Admiralty to Hollywood Road and get off near Man Mo Temple; 2. Take MTR Central Station Exit D2, turn right to Theatre Lane, walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Center, then take the Central—Mid-Levels Escalator to Hollywood Road; 3. Take MTR Sheung Wan Station Exit A2, walk along Hillier Street to Queen's Road Central, proceed up Ladder Street (next to Lok Ku Road) to Hollywood Road to the Man Mo Temple.
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