After lunch, we were able to tour the temple grounds for half an hour. The temple appeared newly repainted, clean, and had only a handful of local visitors...nothing at all like the temples in China! The grounds didn't appear very lively and there was nothing of the teahouse atmosphere there. This may be owing to the numerous photos of the recently deceased at the temple, hinting of its role as shrine for the deceased.
The exchange students seemed to be enjoying the "new sights and smells" though, they were taping video and snapping photos. There were plenty of yin-yang symbols everywhere, something I didn't really see in the temples in mainland China. Whether this was owing to the Cultural Revolution or some other factor, I'm not sure. I do recall seeing a lot of artifacts in the temples in China being covered over with none-too-subtle layers of concrete.
The buses then ushered us to Victoria Peak's Galleria, which has almost a 360 view outwards from Hong Kong island. The weather was fairly hazy so it was difficult to see Kowloon and other distant points.
The buses then took us down to the Tsim Sha Tsui side of the famous Hong Kong harbour to the Avenue of the Stars. These handprints by far a much better location (harbour front!) than the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I noticed many of the students gathered around the bronze statue of Bruce Lee; I had my moment with Andy Lau's handprints.
By now it was dusk and our group leaders allowed us to go freely on our own way.
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