RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x
ONE OF HONG KONG'S MANY HILLSIDE TEMPLES:

"THE TEMPLE OVERLOOKING THE SEA'

DAN WATERS

275

There are a number of hillside temples, both on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. But very little appears to have been written about them or about the communities that worship in them and frequent their environs.

This short paper looks at a small, ramshackle temple complex, including 'The Temple Overlooking the Sea', which used to cling to the hillside. Painted somewhat garishly bright red, green and yellow, it stood downhill, on the western side of where the remains of the old British Pinewood Battery are still situated. The latter, at 307 metres above sea level, was the highest of all Hong Kong's coastal defence batteries. To get to the temple you went up the winding, partly asphalted and partly concreted, Hatton Road, which starts at the western end of Conduit Road, where it joins Po Shan and Kotewall Roads. Hatton Road is steep and leads up to the Gap between Victoria Peak and the still, relatively unspoiled, High West.

About half way up Hatton Road, on the way to the Peak, there is a branch off to the right, and, a further 35 metres or so along with a pavilion atop Dragon and Tiger Hill on your right, you turn left on to a concrete-paved jeep track. Proceeding downhill for approximately 300 metres you can still see the hillside scars and sorry remains of the old Temple complex. They are situated along what is sometimes called Cheung Po-tsai's Path, named after Hong Kong's most notorious pirate who was especially active in the first decade of the 19th century. Whether he actually used the path is debatable. It circles the western end of Hong Kong Island above Mid-Levels.

Notices were posted up in the summer of 1999, in the area around the 'Temple Overlooking the Sea', saying that the complex was to be demolished. It was an illegal structure. The old Chinese folk who were very attached to the Temple were naturally upset and, although there were no strong protests, a few of them did attend meetings organised by government departments. Although the Temple folk sometimes
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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g
Appendix

Date Visits 2001

Sat April 28th: Sam Tung Uk Museum and Hoi Pa led by Valery Garrett

Sat 26th May: Mount Davis and Pinewood Batteries led by Tim Ko.

Sat 18th Aug: Preview of Hong Kong Museum of History led by Dr Joseph Ting.

Sat 15th Sept: Tour of the new Central Library in Causeway Bay led by Julia Chan and Dr Pat Hase (two visits)

Sat Sept 22nd: Private View - Chinese Textiles given by Valery Garrett and Chris Hall.

Fri Sept 28th to Wed Oct 3rd: Korean Palaces in Seoul led by Dr Pat Hase.

2002

Sat 10th Nov: Visit to Dolphins led by Lindsay Porter.

8-19th Feb 2002: Bhutan, led by Dr Brian Shaw.

Sat Feb 23rd: Guided tour of the Cultural Relics of the Great Wall Exhibition at the HKMH led by Dr Joseph Ting

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