temple mount

I was perusing Google’s map of my neighbourhood a few weeks ago when I noticed a Tin Hau temple, the existence of which I hadn’t been aware. This omission isn’t particularly surprising, because that area has been taken over by quasi-industrial sites, and I didn’t think that there could be anything of interest here. However, it is a mere 3km from my house—in other words, within easy walking distance—so I thought I should take a look.

Clusters of quasi-industrial units can be extremely confusing if you’re trying to find a through route, but the way ahead should be obvious in this first photo:

It is indeed obvious:

…and if there really is a continuation from this point, it has to be straight on:

If there’s a temple around here, there must be a path to it. And there is:

A pretty good path too, by the standards I’m used to:

And here it is:

You should just be able to make out the dragons on the roof ridge of the temple itself. This is the only temple I’ve come across with an enclosed courtyard, but both the gate into the courtyard and the doors of the temple are usually closed. However, the path continues past the temple, and since I was there, I thought that I might as well see if it leads anywhere:

Following a sharp left turn at the end of the path seen in the previous photograph, this is what I saw:

As I passed the low red wall on the left, a woman on the other side of the wall warned me to beware of the dogs. You can probably imagine my reply:

“The dogs will be in more danger than I will be if they decide to attack!”

I encounter hundreds of dogs during my explorations of the New Territories, and, despite being used for security purposes, the vast majority are completely harmless. They might bark. They might even chase me if I’m on my bike, but real psychos are rare. On the few occasions that I’ve been attacked, , the dog(s) always have reasons for wishing they hadn’t. There is a dog in three of the photos here, but you can tell from their body language that they’re barkers not biters.

You will also notice that what had been a well-made concrete path degenerates into a rough dirt path beyond the house on the left:

The gritty surface makes it much more difficult to ride a bike on, especially because it’s uphill. The owner of the bike in the last photo probably pushes their bike up this section.

The path then emerges onto a rough and broken concrete road that provides access to yet more quasi-industrial units:

You may think that this road doesn’t look especially ‘rough and broken’, but take a look at the next two photos:

The final section is not only rough and broken, it’s also steep, which makes it difficult to ride up on a bike:

…before emerging onto what I’ve always referred to as ‘the top road’:

Incidentally, there are two extremely noisy dogs on the other side of the fence seen in the last two photos.

The top road snakes across the hillside overlooking the Ng Tung River, and it carries almost no traffic once this last of the quasi-industrial sites has been passed, because the sole reason for its existence is to provide access to scores of graves and ossuaries on that hillside. I used to cycle along it frequently when we first moved to our present house, but I’ve seldom done so since I started exploring further afield.

You will have noticed that although I originally followed this route on foot, and I’ve since been back a couple of times to take photos, I’ve described what it’s like to ride it on a bike. Naturally, I have done that, but just the once. Although it’s a fun challenge, it doesn’t fit naturally into any of my regular bike rides, so I expect to ride it just once more—to shoot a video.