There are many types of trips, as many as there are travelers. But no matter how different the journeys, destinations, and motivations may be, all of us, at some point along the way, seek the same thing: tranquility. Some need more time than others; there will be those who require it for reflection and those who simply seek it to rest their feet. Even the most active travelers find themselves at some point in need of a few moments to breathe, stop, sit down to rest, consult a map, think, decide, read… And in cities like Hong Kong, where it is scary to cross a zebra crossing in the face of the swarm of people coming towards you, it is very difficult to find that longed-for tranquility.
Difficult but not impossible. Inside the urban center, among skyscrapers, roads, and shopping malls, it is possible to find an ideal place to serve as a traveler’s rest: Nan Lian Garden. A park where you can hide from the maelstrom of Hong Kong and shake off for a while the consumerist fever that has likely already started to make more than one person sweat. And you don’t even need a single dollar to lose yourself in this oasis of peace because it is a public park and, therefore, free.
Nan Lian Garden is a perfect example that Hong Kong is, without a doubt, a region of contrasts. The towers of tiny apartments where thousands of people live peek through the vegetation without permission and seem to act as a shield against the noise. Incredibly, inside there, at times, it is possible to hear the silence, broken occasionally by the flow of water, the trill of a hidden bird, or the broom of an employee striving to clean up every last speck of dust.
Everything is designed to give you moments of tranquility. Every carefully pruned tree, every rock placed with intention, every path that meanders across the ground, every waterfall that lulls you like a lullaby… No detail is missing in a delightful ensemble that is hard to leave, a setting created following the classic style of the Chinese Tang dynasty. And so that nothing breaks the harmony of the park, there are many people who blend into the landscape to maintain its magic.
Besides calming the spirit, you can also nourish the body. Inside the complex, there is a vegetarian restaurant tucked away behind a waterfall and a tea house hidden on the edge of a lake in a sort of temple. We would have loved to discover the millenary tradition of tea, but prices that were somewhat exorbitant for our backpacker budgets left us wanting.
But you can also trace its ancestral culture without spending anything. Walk relaxedly towards the Chi Lin Nunnery connected to the park by a bridge that, without you even noticing or losing all the tranquility already gained, crosses over a road crowded with traffic. In this nunnery, silence mixes with mysticism, strolls among water lilies and lotus flowers, and inevitably envelops you within a few seconds of entering.
And shortly after, the smell of wood will have seduced you, the undisputed protagonist above ponds, plants, or even the Buddhas that rest magnanimously among offerings. The nunnery is like an immense puzzle of thousands of wooden pieces fitted together by hand without a single nail piercing them. The construction and the cleanliness of the wood exude elegance and serenity.
Of course, it is a perfect place to serve as a traveler’s rest. And if so much tranquility starts to drive you crazy, don’t worry—you just have to walk through the park’s exit gate to dive back into one of Hong Kong’s hallmarks, its shopping malls. Impossible to find more contrast.
