Vignettes of the World
There are many private studies in the villages of the New Territories. In the past, I have visited quite a few and introduced them in this blog. In the Kam Tin villages, there is the Yi Tai Study of the Shui Tau Village. Photo: An …
The plan for the day was to have a picnic at Hong Kong Park and then visit the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware for the first time. The Hong Kong Park A very popular public space, the Hong Kong Park was built in 1991 …
The Fire Dragon dance of Tai Hang resumed for the first time after the pandemic during the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2023. We arrived at Tai Hang too late that evening and as a result did not manage to secure a photo-taking spot for the Fire Dragon dance. However, I noticed that the Fire Dragon troupe made its stop first at the Lin Fa Temple before they did the parade. I decided to visit the Lin Fa Temple to learn about its history and its relationship with the people of Tai Hang.
Tai Hang is a cluster of residential and commercial establishments nestled in a foothill between Causeway Bay and Tin Hau. Usually, the locals of Hong Kong think of Tai Hang as a haven for good food. There are many good and reputed restaurants in this six-block by six-block area, serving both Cantonese and western cuisine. There are also some old buildings, which have been taken over by businesses to offer trendy dining in a revitalized heritage space.
The Lin Fa temple, meaning the “Temple of Lotus,” was likely built in the 2nd year in the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty (1863). When it was built, the Lin Fa Temple had the hill as its backdrop while facing the sea. In those times, the now-Tung Lo Wan Road was the actual coastline facing the sea. In terms of Feng Shui, this was meant to bode well. Right next to the Lin Fa Temple was the old Tai Hang Village (more below).
Kwun Yam (the Goddess of Mercy) is the resident deity at the Lin Fa Temple. The Lin Fa Temple is also the first Kwun Yam temple in Hong Kong island. It was said that the Lin Fa Temple belonged to one Tsang family, but eventually the temple was handed over to the Chinese Temples Committee in 1975.
Indeed, even today the temple draws many faithful followers for all kinds of rituals. I saw many people burning joss sticks, seeking fortune by fortune sticks and buying the instruments necessary for their worship.
When I first saw the temple, I became immediately intrigued by its unique appearance. Its top is in an octagonal shape (it is actually a half octagon because it is built with the hill at its back). Unlike pretty much all other temples in Hong Kong, the Lin Fa Temple was built with entry ways on the two sides. A half-moon shaped stone rail girdles the central opening, which, in the old times, would have faced the sea.
The roof is a double-eaves-tented roof, and the front hall is connected with the main hall without a courtyard, unlike the usual two-hall format with side chambers in most temples. The temple has two stories, and there are stairs within the temple to reach the upper altar.
One would not miss the beautiful wooden carving of a large dragon on the roof of Lin Fa Temple. This is a tribute to the annual Fire Dragon dance.
In terms of artefacts, the Shiwan ceramic figures, the stone offering table and the temple bell are from the 19th century. The Lin Fa Temple has been a Declared Monument since 2014.
Tai Hang, in Chinese meaning “the big pit,” was literally a big pit in this area passing from Mount Butler into the former coastline on Tung Lo Wan Road and onto the sea. The Tai Hang Village was established as early as the late 19th century in here, and it is the only Hakka village in Hong Kong Island.
A simple itinerary to visit Tai Hang can include first a visit at the Haw Par Mansion, which sits on the same hill above the Lin Fa Temple. After visiting the Haw Par Mansion, walk on Lai Tak Tsuen Road. Take a flight of stairs down across the street from Lai Tak Estate and you will arrive at Lin Fa Temple.
Feel free to sip coffee in many of the hip coffee shops, or even have an afternoon drink at a bar. I have previously written on Man Sing Bing Sutt, which is a Cantonese restaurant with a long history and a moving story, along with unique menu items, in Tai Hang.
Traditionally, the people of Tai Hang celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival by holding the Fire Dragon dance parade during the three days of the festival. The Fire Dragon originated from a time of plague during the 19th century. A village elder said that Kwun Yam (the resident deity in Tai Hang’s Lin Fa Temple), gave him the revelation that a fire dragon dance will drive away the plague. The villagers gathered the troupes and did a Fire Dragon dance as instructed, and the plague really disappeared.
Therefore, the Fire Dragon dance parade has been held yearly since to commemorate this incident, and it also explains why the Fire Dragon troupe begins its parade by paying tribute at the Lin Fa Temple. The troupe is blessed by Kwun Yam as they burn joss sticks planted in a dragon form, before it heads out to Tai Hang for the parade.
Ironically, throughout those three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fire Dragon dance parade had to cease performing. It has resumed in 2023 and let’s hope that nothing in the future will get in the way of this very traditional, fully engaging and uniquely Hong Kong cultural performance.
Descriptions on site at the Lin Fa Temple and in Tai Hang.
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Heritage Centre, The Origin of Tang Hang Fire Dragon Dance.
Throughout this wonderful first trip in Uzbekistan, I have had many memorable encounters with the locals. For most of the times, they approached us for photographs and we would begin a conversation. It was through them that I gathered the perspectives that Uzbeks hold close …
We relaxed and shopped a bit at the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa. Dusk would befall upon us soon so we hurried and got a taxi to get to the Samani Park. We would be seeing the Ismail Samani Mausoleum as the final sightseeing in Bukhara on …
The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa is the summer palace for the last Bukhara Emir, Alim Khan. At the time of the summer palace’s construction, Russian domination, be it as the expression of Russian imperialism or as the Bolshevik ambition that followed, has reached this part of Central Asia.
The Russian invasion and exertion of power over Uzbekistan took place in the mid-19th century. In 1865, the Russian Empire had already taken Tashkent and made it the capital of Russian Turkestan. At the cusp of Russia’s invasion of Bukhara, which took place in that same period, the various regions of Uzbekistan were ruled by khanate kingdoms. This part of Uzbek history was known as the Khanate era.
Photo: The octagonal room (Khonkhona) is beautifully painted. On the wall and ceiling were made “kundal” patterns of real gold and silver.
Throughout the 1860s or so, the Russians have waged their wars in Bukhara, and in 1866, the Bukharans were defeated. In 1868, the Emir accepted vassal status after the defeat in the Battle of Zerabulak. It was at that time that the Emir ceded Samarkand to the Russians as well. However, Khiva remained in the Emir’s control.
At this point, it could not be said that the Russians were ruling Bukhara yet. Rather, the Emir still retained power in the administration and control of Bukhara and other territories. Bukhara was yet to be incorporated into the Russian Empire formally.
Built in 1911, the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa stands testament to a watershed in Bukharan and Uzbek history. Its name meaning “Palace Like the Stars and the Moon,” the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa was built by Russian engineers for Emir Alim Khan in 1911, “as an inducement to get him out of the Ark fortress and safely ensconced in a strategic and cultural no-man’s land on the edge of town.” (Calum Macleod) The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa is located about 4km north of Bukhara on the edge of the road to Samarkand.
The architecture shows prominent and grandiose eastern European features. At first glance, it certainly conveys the sense of luxury to which the royalty of Bukhara felt entitled.
According to the descriptions on site, the exterior of the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa was that of Russian architecture, but the interiors were fitted with traditional Bukharan elements. Without proper training in the antique architecture of Bukhara, I felt like I was looking at wholly European designs.
The summer palace’s unique fusion architecture represents the historic crossroads at which the Bukhara emirate confronted. It was a time when Russian modernity was clashing with Bukharan antiquity and threatened its survival. As such, the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa’s beautiful appearance belies the unfortunate historical context from which it arises.
The Soviet troops would eventually launch attacks upon Bukhara in 1920, causing significant casualties to both the people and heritage of Bukhara, and that certainly included the Ark. It was from this summer palace that the last Emir Alim Khan fled to Afghanistan. It was also in the inner courtyard of the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa that the First Congress of the Bukharan Soviet convened in 1920, whereby the People’s Republic of Bukhara was proclaimed.
Photo: This is the Most-Photographed Chamber in the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa
Photo: Three Distinct Structures Surround the Three Sides of the Inner Courtyard
Three distinct but connected structures surround the inner courtyard (Hauli Darun). On the west side stands the White Hall (khonai Safed). On the south side stands the glass terrace Teahouse with a banquet hall. On the north side stands the Chess Room.
In my humble opinion, in terms of aesthetics, the interiors of the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa is a notch better than the purely Russian-styled architecture of the buildings’ exterior. The myriad colors that adorn hand-carved stalactite ceilings are exceptionally beautiful.
It is said that the elaborate chandeliers hanging from the ceilings are original.
In terms of exhibitions, the items displayed in this part of the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa tend to show the high life of Bukhara, with a collection of porcelain instruments, the clothes worn by the privileged, and antique furniture.
Perhaps the most interesting history in this part of the summer palace is the folly. It is a pair of wooden towers linked by a bridge.
According to Sophie Ibbotson, “the emir used to select his companion for the night by throwing her an apple. The girl had to catch it and then take a bath in donkey’s milk before being permitted to enter the royal bedchamber.”
The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa harem now houses the Museum of Applied Arts.
I found the hand-woven and hand-embroidered fabrics there to be very beautiful. They were the work of renowned national artists in Uzbekistan. The exhibits in the museum represents the Bukhara school of embroidery during the 19th and 20th centuries.
From Bukhara we took a taxi to the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa. Be prepared to spend an hour or two there.
Descriptions on site at the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa.
Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan, Bradt Travel Guide (2020).
Calum Macleod, Uzbekistan: the Golden Road to Samarkand (2014).
The Wikipedia on the Russian Conquest of Bukhara.
A night of thunderstorm and rain has restored Bukhara’s muffled air of the previous day into crisp, clean breezes. The morning sunlight greeted us and we enjoyed the blessing of generous good weather for this last full day in Bukhara. The day would be packed …
From the Zindan Jail we headed over to The Plov, a restaurant that has high ratings for its plov dishes. There was quite a bit of a walk to this restaurant. In that walk we went through a large area of Bukhara outside the Old …
The Zindan Jail is very close to the Ark of Bukhara and it stands for haunting memories of torture, horror and incarceration. This may have been the second saddest sightseeing I have done in this trip in Uzbekistan. The saddest being the Muynak Ship Cemetery.
It is however very much worthwhile to visit, as in every culture there are expressions of the darkest strands of human nature. Uzbekistan is no exception and the Zindan Jail keeps it all real for us as tourists.
Despite its similarity in appearance with the Ark, the Zindan jail is relatively modern as an 18th century structure. Now a museum, the Zindan Jail has the official name of The Museum of History of Law and Court System of Bukhara.
In Persian, the word “Zindan” means “dungeon.” Inside this prison is the infamous “Bug Pit,” the Fourth Cell, a space below ground that was dark, damp, infested with bugs, rodents and even snakes. Some sources say that these tortuous creatures were dropped by the Uzbeks into the pit.
Known as the “kanakhona,” the 6.5-meter deep pit was “covered with an iron grill. Accessible only via a long 6-meter rope, the Bug Pit was reserved for the least favorite” of prisoners. It is said that in those conditions prisoners only stay alive for about three days.
The Bug Pit was where the two British soldiers, Stoddart and Connolly, that angered the Emir, were kept, tortured and horrified, before they were executed in the Registan before the Ark. Other than the two famous British prisoners discussed below, the prisoners that ended up in the Zindan Jail were debtors and those that failed to practice religion. The serious offenders were thrown into the Bug Pit.
The British Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart was sent by the British Government to Bukhara on a diplomatic mission during the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1838. The intention of the British Government was simply to extend an olive branch to the Bukharan Emir, at the time Nasrulla Khan. The message carried by Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart was that the British would like the Bukharan Emir to know that the British shall not extend their campaign in Afghanistan to this part of Central Asia, that Bukhara would be safe from invasion.
Nasrulla Khan was known for his rather volatile and precarious temperaments. When Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart failed to get off his horse as he approached the Ark, and failed to bow to the Emir, Nasrulla Khan was enraged. He sent Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart to the Bug Pit.
A few years later came Captain Connolly, who was a fellow officer of Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart. He came to Bukhara intending to rescue Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart, but not with express support of the British Government. Although his effort to place Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart in better lodging met with some success, Nasrulla Khan felt free to dispose of both of them when news of the British failure to take Kabul reached Bukhara.
A total of three years passed, where Lieutenant Colonel Stoddart was kept in the Bug Pit, on and off, between 1838 to early 1842. Both men were beheaded in the Registan in front of the Ark in 1842.
Suffice to say, that the men were victims of diplomatic failures, both a fault of their own as well as the British Government’s.
At the site of the former Zindan Jail, there is now a museum with exhibits introducing the various aspects of Uzbekistan’s penal system in those times. Mannequins now standing in the bug pit convey just a taste of the horror that once took place there.
The museum contains some explanations on the court system in Bukhara, mainly showing visitors how the two streams of military and civilian criminal justice was handled separately. Needless to say, Sharia Law was the source of judicial authority in Bukhara.
There are also some exhibits of the instruments of torture.
For dinner, we went to the Old Bukhara Restaurant. We held high expectations because there were some very good reviews of its food and ambience. In order to secure a table at this exceedlingly popular restaurant, we went there quite early, around 5:30pm or so.
There were some frustrations there. The restaurant was fully closed during the afternoon, and no matter how much I pleaded they would not let us in anytime before 6pm. There was quite a bit of rudeness in between as well.
In any event, we persisted and were indeed one of the first few parties being seated up on the terrace. We were excited about our food, but half way through our dinner, the storm that had been looming all day resurfaced. Strong winds were blowing. The trees wavered, the umbrellas were falling on our table and our dining ware were all flipping. It was to a point where we thought we could be injured in this scenario, and we had to hurry up to finish everything and leave.
The food was fair, but the overall experience was terrible.
By the time we returned to the hotel, the sandstorm that menaced Bukhara for a whole day turned into a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain. Perhaps in this way the quick-tempered Nasrulla Khan haunted us from his grave through the precariousness of this weather.
Descriptions on site at the Zindan Jail.
Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan, Bradt Travel Guide (2020) at 235, 240.
Atlas Obscura, The “Bug Pit” at Zindon Prison.
The sandstorm cleared up a bit but we still wanted to save the touring for another brighter day. In the afternoon we decided to visit a teahouse in Bukhara. It seemed to us that the Silkroad Teahouse, which is on the way to the Kalon …