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SCMP Reporter

A 130-year-old temple in Ta Kwu Ling was reopened yesterday after being restored to its original state, in the hope it becomes a tourist attraction.

 The Cheung Shan Monastery was restored with a $4.2 million grant from the Jockey Club and will be administered by the residents of seven nearby villages.

 It was declared a heritage site in January last year, said Antiquities and Monuments curator Susanna Siu Lai-kuen.

 Eight sites are being restored throughout the northern New Territories. There are 67 declared as historical monuments under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.

 'After Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty, there has been a need to have the public know more about the history, culture and tradition of their mother country by means of heritage education,' said Secretary for Home Affairs David Lan Hong-tsung at the opening.

 Before restoration, Cheung Shan had a leaking roof and had been partially destroyed by fire.

 Ms Siu said a temple was most probably first constructed on the site in the mid-18th century and used as a nunnery, before being replaced by the existing structure in about 1868.

 The monastery features statues of Buddha, Kwun Yu, the Goddess of Mercy, and Tei Chong Wong, the Guardian of the Earth.

 Its historical importance lies in its location at Temple Pass, which was part of the strategic road from Sha Tau Kok to Shenzhen.

 It was once a popular resting place where free tea was served to 25,000 travellers a month, said the chairman of the monastery's management committee, Tang Chun-chi.



130-year-old restored temple seen as a tourist attraction