Quan Yin opens vault 2005

After 4 years, It still fascinates me to watch the religious zealots young and old in queue for this annual event. The premise borders the ridiculous to the atheist's ears: Once a year, Goddess Quan Yin opens her vault to people wishing to borrow money from her. The amounts range from several millon to tens of millions of dollars, written on a piece of red note inside a matching envelope. No one expects to get that kind of money, of course, but this dedication supposed a prosperous year for the participant.

The queue starts almost a week in advance for the most devoted wishing to be among the firsts to go through the temple doors, though majority comes at the day of the event from all over Hong Kong. The queue seems a mile long that winds up a hill into a large ball court, where the real winding begins. The temple door opens an hour before midnight, runs through the night, well into the next day.

If you wonder why the streets suddenly seem sparse of cops, it's because they're gathered here to uphold order to what could potentially be major chaos. Police vans, an ambulance and a fire truck parked outside the temple for emergencies, and open tents are there for those dehydrated, in need of rest or first aid.

Paparazzi staked outside the entrance early to capture the opening and the crowd, and I'm here to capture them and everything else. That's because I live right next to Quan Yin Temple, and I love to witness the madness:


And here's a clip.

Filed Sat - March 5, 2005, 05:27 PM in

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