The landscape in Chi Lin is based on the classical Chinese landscape concept - insetting rocks, trees to created a layering effects of distance mountain and trees, like a scroll painting."...From the nunnery complex, a stately causeway leads to a bonus that's even better for solitude (a precious commodity here): Nan Lian Garden. A single lazy circuit takes me through its three hectares or so, filled with carefully crafted landscaping, meditative paths and further halls and towers in matching Tang style. Scrupulously managed by the nunnery, this could possibly be the prettiest public spot in all Hong Kong. It is surely the quietest. Even with surveillance cameras and piped-in plucked koto music, Nan Lian feels like a sincere homage to gardens past -- and not some Sinoland theme park.
An authentic variety of pu'er and other sharp, high-end teas is served after 11 a.m. in the mini-gazebo beside a lotus pond. The larger vegetarian restaurant looks even more enjoyable, with an eight-course set menu including an all-veg hot pot and string beans braised with porcini mushrooms. Perhaps there are some budding Julia Childs among the nuns.
I can't say there's much else to do here but stroll and rid one's self of impure, materialistic thoughts. But that's saying a lot in a place with among the world's lowest ratios of urban parkland to population. You almost don't notice the high-density apartment blocks looming on all sides."
One Hour Out: Hong Kong - In a City Notoriously Low On Parks, Green Space Beckons
By JOHN KRICH
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122115254901124087.html?mod=googlewsj
