Temples & Shrines

At the western end of Stanley Main St, past a tiny Tai Wong shrine and through the shopping complex called Stanley Plaza, is a Tin Hau temple (119 Stanley Main St), built in 1767 and said to be the oldest building in Hong Kong. It has undergone a complete renovation since then, however, and is now a concrete pile (though the interior is traditional). A sign explains that the tiger skin hanging on the wall came from an animal that ‘weighed 240 pounds, was 73 inches long, and three feet high [and] shot by an Indian policeman, Mr Rur Singh, in front of Stanley Police Station in the year 1942.

Behind the Tin Hau temple is huge Ma Hang Estate. If you go across the front of the temple and follow the road, through the barriers and up the hill, you’ll reach Kwun Yam Temple. The temple is on the left when you get to the roundabout at the top.