The Ocean God Temple
On one corner of the beach Shek O, a suburb area on Hong Kong island, there exists an archaic building, Ocean God Temple [海神廟] which preserves a tiny bit of the exclusive regional classical culture in the city.
When you enter this temple, you are travelling back in time over 100 years ago and experiencing the superstitious thoughts of the early fishermen before the arrival of the British soveriegnty.
The legend or folklore of the Ocean God Temple [海神廟]
Here goes the folklore. Once upon a day, a construction contractor found a wooden object on the rock congested beach.
He found that it was some kinda strange object he had never seen and he thought it was a symbol of the God from the sea, so he pray to this object by saying that if he could get rid of his poverty, he would build a temple to worship the Ocean God some day.
The totem he picked up was about one meter tall. It has long snake like hair, and it resemble a girls with dark skin.
Several years later, this contracter became a business man with much money. So he kept his promise and build the Ocean God Temple [海神廟] on the Shek O beach.
Pay a visit to this temple, then you may find out how Chinese traditional architecture is different from that of Europe.
About Shek O
The part of the island was orignally named as Heaung Dao Bay or Sampan Bay. But due to the fact that there are rocks amassed on the beach, and rock iin Cantonese is Shek, beach is O, so people started to call the area Shek O instead.
Shek O can be described as one of the few suburbs on Hong Kong Island. It is situated in the southeast part of the island, far away from the hustle and bustle of city life. A majority of the land is covered by country parks and mountains. The residential area is located near Shek O Beach.
The Shek O Country Park is the largest recreational area found in the Hong Kong Trail Section. It's a great place for people who are interested in finding out more about the natural landscape and hiking.
Many rocks and hills at the seaside of Shek O have been transformed into something fascinating, due to continuous weathering and disintegration. This unique occurrence has made Shek O one of the most valuable natural landscapes in Hong Kong.
How to get there
You may find buses and minibus near the Exchange Square Building in the central district going to and fro Shek O. It takes a little more than an hour for you to arrive the beach if you start you journel in central.
