Ping Shan Tang Gallery & Heritage Trail, plus Mong Kok

On Saturday, I, along with about 25 CUHK kids, went on a CUHK organized event to the Ping Shan Tang Gallery and Heritage Trail. To quote the brochure: "Ping Shan in the Yuen Long district is one of Hong Kong's most historically significant regions. The Tang Clan, one of the major clans in the New Territories, settled in Ping Shan as early as the 12th century." "Tang Yuen-ching was regarded as the first generation ancestor of the Ping Shan lineage. According to villagers, Tang Yuen-ching and his son decided to settle at Ping Shan after seeing its fertile farmland surrounded by shelter mountains and abundant water. They realized that it was a location with excellent fung shui." The heritage trail encompasses ancestral halls, temples, study halls, and pagodas for ancestral worship and education. The gallery was a little dull, but it was interesting to walk along the trail and see a part of Hong Kong I have never been exposed to and probably wouldn't have explored on my own.

After the gallery and before the trail, we ate at a seemingly very sketchy restaurant in an establishment similar to the one's along this street:

 Our hotpot meal, which was surprisingly tasty:

A shrine (and adorable tour guide):

 What a random snack shop looked like in the area:

A very ornate door, where the characters are supposed to guard the entrance:

A temple, notice the very ornate roof:

The roof of the temple. The tour guide emphasized the red, center plank as being essential to the strength of the building:

 One of the banners was a certificate of achievement for a family member who had passed the civil exam. Since passing the exam is the only way to become an official, the Chinese emphasize their children's education.

 A shrine decorated for Chinese New Year:

Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda and the shrine inside:

Their 'parking space' for their carriages:

The group:

In the evening we went to eat at a place in Mong Kok, the district known for their shopping (although we didn't). This party of the city is clearly very different than the Yuen Long district.

The group at Mr. Wong's:

I've realized that I need to spend more time exploring Hong Kong. I've spent way too much time on the nightlife aspect, but I need to investigate the historic temples and be able to compare the vastly different areas of the island.