Hong Kong’s Sai Lam Temple

Hong Kong’s Sai Lam Temple

Sai Lam Temple is located in Sheung Wo Che Village, Sha Tin District, Hong Kong. It was built in 1923 by Leung Tsz-chung, originally from Nanhai, Guangdong, and has a history of over 80 years. The founder of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, Venerable Yuet Kai, also once resided at Sai Lam Temple.

Sai Lam Temple was once a popular tourist spot in Sha Tin and was celebrated as one of the “Four Scenic Spots of Sha Tin” along with Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, Che Kung Temple, and Tsang Tai Uk. It was said that more than ten monks used to live in the temple. As early as the 1960s and 70s, there were numerous restaurants along Sai Lam Road in front of the temple, making the street quite bustling on holidays. The temple enjoyed flourishing incense offerings, was famed for its vegetarian cuisine, and often served as a filming location for Cantonese movies. However, since 1980, when the ownership of Sai Lam Temple was acquired by a Thai consortium, redevelopment plans were halted due to government rejection of the land use change proposal. Since then, the temple has been abandoned and, due to years of neglect, has fallen into a state of disrepair, with ruins now covering the site.

The entire Sai Lam Temple complex is built against a hillside. The plaque above the entrance archway is inscribed with the Chinese characters “Sai Lam” (西林), and the couplet on either side reads: “The western pavilion and Dharma garden are ideal for practicing the Dharma; the forested monastery gathers key Buddhist teachings to be studied.” Near the entrance lies a lotus pond with a tall white magnolia tree. The lowest level houses three buildings: two two-story structures, with the one near the main gate serving as the “Guest Rooms,” and the three-story building as the “Sai Heung Yuan Vegetarian Restaurant.” There is also another two-story building at the back. Walking up the steps from the main gate leads to another entrance called the “Gate of Great Compassionate Vows,” which was removed during renovation works.

History

Leung Tsz-heng, whose Dharma name was Wun Ching and who was originally from Nanhai, Guangdong, established Sai Lam Temple in Sheung Wo Che Village at the foothills opposite Sha Tin Railway Station, and gradually closed down his two Sai Heung Yuan vegetarian restaurants that he operated in Kowloon. Apart from accommodating itinerant monks, Sai Lam Temple also conducted religious ceremonies for devotees and hosted visitors. In 1933, Venerable Yuet Kai, founder of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, traveled to Hong Kong and stayed at Sai Lam Temple. In 1980, the abbot of Sai Lam Temple, Master Wun Ching, passed away. It was rumored that after his death, someone sold the temple to a Thai consortium. Following the ownership transfer, the vegetarian business was discontinued, and the temple’s spirit tablets were removed. Since then, this longstanding tourist attraction in Sha Tin, which had stood for half a century, was relegated to the ruins of history. In 2004, a Sha Tin District Council member proposed developing Sai Lam Temple into a tourist site, but the plan could not be realized because the land was privately owned.

In 2006, a Hong Kong businessman surnamed Zhuang purchased the land rights for over HK$30 million and planned to develop Sai Lam Temple into a tourist attraction. He also established a foundation called the “Sai Lam (Pu Zhong) Foundation” to oversee the reconstruction. Renovation work was completed in October 2009, but the result was the construction of five exquisitely designed columbarium towers capable of holding 3,000 urn niches, which looked entirely different from the original temple. However, the Lands Department stated that operating urn niches on the site violated the land lease conditions and ordered the temple to cease such operations.

Transportation Guide

Location: Sheung Wo Che Village, Sha Tin District, Hong Kong

How to get there: Take New Territories minibuses 68K or 69K