Traveling along the main road between Aberdeen and Stanley, we could hardly believed that we were in a highly urbanized city such as Hong Kong as, along the way, we espied the resort-like setting of the wide, crescent-shaped beach of peaceful Repulse Bay at the southern part of Hong Kong Island.  The bay, once a haven for pirates intent on plundering foreign merchant ships trading with China, was so named after the British fleet repulsed the pirates in 1841.

Repulse Bay

Here, at the eastern end of the beach, we made a stopover at Tin Hau Temple, one of the oldest in Hong Kong and one of over 70 Tin Hau Temples throughout the colony.

Posing at the base of the statue of Tin Hau

This brightly-colored Taoist shrine has a pavilion, a small pier area and  two huge, more than 10 m. high statues – one for Tin Hau (the Goddess of the Sea) and the other for Kwun Yam (Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy).  Both goddesses hold a prominent place in traditional Chinese legends.

Posing in front of the statue of Kwun Yam

It also has a Chinese-style garden, leading down to the beach, and the Longevity Bridge, a little bridge with an inscription that says “Each time you cross this bridge, your life will be prolonged 3 days – Lau Hon-Wah.”

Posing in front of the Kwun Yam Shrine and Longevity Bridge