The Cross On The Hill.

View from the cross.

When we first arrived in Hong Kong in August 1996, we were met at the airport by staff from Peter's school and taken to our temporary accommodation in the Regal Riverside Hotel in Sha Tin. We later rented a flat in Fo Tan, right next to Sha Tin, because of its proximity to Peter's work. We lived in that flat for eight years.

Almost every day of our lives there, we passed by a huge cross on the hill as we went off to work. We even had a roof garden and could probably see it from there. I say probably, as I have long since forgotten exactly what we could see, but we certainly did have a superb view.

On many occasions we said: " We should go and have a closer look at that cross." Well, it's taken twenty-seven years, but today I finally did just that.

This week has been a bit of a nightmare weatherwise. There's a typhoon which has hit the Philippines and is now hitting Taiwan. Apparently it won't directly hit Hong Kong, but it has caused our temperature and pollution levels to shoot up. Peter and I have been swimming and not been allowed in the outside pool due to the possibility of rather major thunder storms. We have been kept awake all night when said thunderstorms finally arrived. According to the Hong Kong Observatory there were more than ten thousand lightning strikes during this storm. Not exactly sure how they keep count.

We did our usual Wednesday night out with our friend, Bonnie, where we had great food in Epic, but as we were sitting outside, we sweated about our entire body weight in moisture as we ate. I have seldom, if ever, felt so ill after such a lovely meal.

Today I decided it was high time I finally walked up to that cross and found out what it was all about. I had researched it online and knew that the cross was part of the Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre. I also discovered that it was only a twenty minute uphill walk to get there. I reasoned: 'Yes it's hot, but twenty minutes is nothing.' Famous last words, shall I say?

When I arrived in Sha Tin, I exited through exit B. This really was an example of deja vu. I had to stop myself heading off for my old minibus home. At exit B, I headed past the first bus station then walked down the ramp. I could see my old minibus stance and IKEA behind it, but I wasn't going that way. Instead I turned left at a rather pretty old village, called Pai Tau Village, which again I used to pass by every day without ever really seeing it. There's a set of stairs here, which is signposted Sha Tin Trail and to Tao Fong Shan. I started climbing up these.

Signpost.

Pai Tau Village.

Pai Tau Village.

Pai Tau Village.

Pai Tau Village.

Pai Tau Village.

Stairway.

Jackfruit in a garden.

Looking back from Pai Tau Village at Sha Tin.

Looking back from Pai Tau Village at Sha Tin.

Pathway.

This is not a difficult climb. It's shaded and it ascends gently, but it's just so hot that I was soon sweating buckets. There's one fork in the path. When you reach this, take the path on the right. Other than that it's fairly straightforward. I passed a place where workmen were working on making sure the slope did not slip down during heavy rains. This reminded me that in 1997, just around the time of the Handover, there were torrential rains and part of the hillside near here fell down. This landslide damaged the nearby Ten Thousand Buddhas' Temple and killed its caretaker.

Take the path on the right.

After a short walk, I left the narrow path and reached a roundabout on a road. I went right here and climbed up the hill. I had to be careful, it felt like a country route, but there are cars, and because the way is narrow, they come pretty close to you even if you are on the pavement.

Roundabout.

To Fung Shan Road.

I was looking out for a gate that several sites had described as a shortcut. It would have led me straight to the labyrinth on the grounds of the centre. Unfortunately, this gate was locked. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that part of this site is under renovation, but it may even be a hangover from covid. Whatever the reason, I could not access the site from here.

Shortcut.

There was the occasional view over Sha Tin from the edge of the path up. Eventually I reached the entrance to Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre and noticed there was another related Lutheran Christian Centre next to it.

View over Sha Tin.

View over Sha Tin.

At first my heart sank, there seemed to be scaffolding everywhere, and I wondered if the centre would even be open, but actually this was only on the parts of the centre that the public can't access anyway.

Near the entrance of Tao Fong Shan.

To get to The Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, I passed through an archway. An old Chinese man on a bike stopped me here, as he wanted me to take his photo at the arched entranceway. I was happy to do so, but could scarcely see the image I was taking due to the sweat pouring into my eyes. Ah Hong Kong in summer, absolute hell.

Entranceway.

There's a fresco of Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre on the wall just past the entranceway. It is quite beautiful.

Fresco of Tao Fong Shan.

Fresco of Tao Fong Shan.

This centre was founded by a Norwegian missionary called Karl Ludvig Reichelt in 1930. I am no expert on Karl Ludvig Reichelt, but having visited here, I'd guess his aim was to make Christianity accessible to the Chinese by portraying it in a form they could easily identify with.

Looking him up online, I found that Karl Ludvig Reichelt belonged to the Norwegian Missionary Society. In 1903 he travelled to China. He wanted to convert Buddhists to Christianity and began by baptising a young Buddhist monk called Kuantu in 1919. In 1920 he founded the Christian Mission to Buddhists in Nanjing. However, this centre was destroyed in the Chinese Civil War. This led to him leaving China and opening a new centre in Sha Tin - The Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre.

Karl Ludvig Reichelt.

Tao Fong Shan translates to something like 'the hill from which the breath of the spirit flows'. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, Reichelt was put under house arrest. At the end of the war, he returned to Norway for a few years, but in 1951 he came back to Hong Kong and died here in 1952. He is buried in the Tao Fong Shan Cemetery.

Tao Fong Shan Cemetery.

I passed through a Chinese moon gate into a beautiful garden with a pine tree. There was a drinks machine here, which would have been very welcoming except that I had stocked up with my own supply of water.

Pine tree through the moon gate.

Octagonal Church and Pine tree through the moon gate.

Garden with pine tree.

After passing through another moon gate, I reached a beautiful octagonal church. I sent pictures of this to friends and they thought I had gone on holiday to Taiwan. There's a building very like this in Taipei, but that one is much, much bigger.

Octagonal Church.

Octagonal Church.

Buildings around the Octagonal Church.

Buildings around the Octagonal church

Bell.

Flowers near the church.

There were lots of lovely buildings around the Octagonal Church.

Buildings near the Octagonal Church.

Tao Fong Shan.

Tao Fong Shan.

Doorway.

Notice in memory of the architect.

Unfortunately, the church was closed which was a bit disappointing, but it was beautiful from the outside and there were interesting historical photos all around it. There was also a lotus crypt below it, which was described as a hidden and secret place to pray. This was sadly also closed.

Sign for the lotus crypt.

Lotus Crypt.

There were several buildings near the church and there were some kind of seminars taking place in them. I had gone to the check in centre when I first arrived and was told I was welcome to look at everything from the outside, but wasn't to go in anything. This sounds fair enough, but several times I found myself gazing into rooms wondering if they had that absolutely wonderful invention, aircon, in there. I'll never know. Thank God there were some cooler, shady areas outside, too.

Walking away from the church, I found a path leading off to the left. This took me to the huge cross I had noticed all those years ago.

I've spent a lot of time visiting Taoist shrines and Buddhist temples and all the symbolism there goes right over my head, but because this site was Christian I could understand a lot of it.

To get to the area with the cross I had to walk along a narrow path and pass through the narrow gate. This is based on the gospel of Matthew:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Approaching the narrow gate.

The Narrow gate from the other side

Looking back through the narrow gate.

Passing back through the narrow gate.

The narrow gate from the other side.

Bamboo rails next to narrow gate.

Past this there was a beautiful pavilion, called the Thanksgiving Pavilion, which dates from 1966. Inside the pavilion there are many beautiful paintings . It didn't register with me at the time, but looking at them now, I think they are actually depicting scenes from the bible in a traditional Chinese way.

Thanksgiving pavilion.

Thanksgiving pavilion.

Fishermen Painting.

Painting. Could it be showing something like the woman taken in adultery or Mary washing of Christ's feet?

Painting.

There was also what I suspect was an old well, as it was called 'the living spring'. Again this is a reference to the scriptures. This time it's the gospel according to John:

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Living Spring.

Living Spring.

There was a rock with Chinese characters inscribed on it. This was called the Gethsemane Stone. In the bible Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas arrived surrounded by soldiers and betrayed him with a kiss. After this he was taken off and crucified, so it's fitting that nearby is the huge cross I used to see every day.

Gethsemane Stone.

Gethsemane Stone.

Cross.

Cross.

In front of the cross there are lovely views over Sha Tin. I believe there are trails leading off from here. In fact I saw some. One leads to near where I used to live. If it hadn't been so hot, I may have followed one of these, but already, I'm ashamed to say, I was longing to get back in the cool.

View from the cross.

View from the cross.

View from the cross.

I went slightly further down the hillside to a sculpture which looked a lot like a miniature version of Amah Rock. I'm not sure if that's what it was, but it was certainly lovely.

Model of Amah Rock.

Model of Amah Rock.

On my way back, I noticed lots of felled trees and climbed up to have a look. These had been carved into seats and formed a sort of hilltop circle. I wonder if meetings take place here. There were good views from here, too.

Wooden Chairs.

View

View.

I retraced my steps to the octagonal church and out through the moon gates, but this time I headed off to my left (right if you have just arrived). This took me to a beautiful lotus pond. I couldn't see any frogs in it, but I could certainly hear them; they were making quite a racket. A sign next to the pond explained that it was built in the early 1930's and that the lotus is the Chinese symbol of purity. Lotus flowers grow out of the mud, but are untainted by it.

Tao Fong Shan.

Lotus pond.

Lotus pond.

Lotus pond.

Lotus Pond.

In front of the pond there's a labyrinth. Apparently these were popular in the Middle Ages for people who were unable to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The idea is to walk through the maze without crossing any lines. I did this. I went round and round. I could see the centre, which represents Jerusalem, but got there in the most roundabout way possible. It's quite good fun. I was the only person there doing it, but there was a sign up saying invited guests are to have a go before those, like me, who had just wandered in.

Labyrinth.

Labyrinth.

Me in the labyrinth.

I was wondering if I should have a look at the Lutheran Christian Centre next door when I realised I had taken a wrong turn and was actually already in it. There were some beautiful buildings here and I walked around looking for a way in. When I found it, there were two people in the doorway. They very politely asked me if they could help me and I said: "Is it ok to look around?" They told me the buildings were not open to the public, so I retraced my steps back to the road and walked back down the hill to Sha Tin Station again.

Lutheran centre.

Lutheran centre.

Lutheran centre.

Lutheran centre.

There were some lovely flowers around the Lutheran centre.

Flowers.

Bougainvillea.

In my original plan I had thought of wandering through Sha Tin Park and paying a visit to the Heritage Museum in Tai Wai. However, I was feeling a bit sunstruck, plus Peter had asked me to do a bit of shopping. I just headed back to the train and returned home via the shops in Tung Chung. It may have taken me rather a long time, but I was glad I had finally visited Tao Fong Shan, The Hill From Which The Breath of the Spirit Flows.