Kwun Yum Open Treasury

Need some cash?

Don't go to a triad loan shark. Go instead to the Kwun Yum temple at Station Lane in Hung Hom.

But the trick is, you have to visit on the 26th day (starting at 11pm on March 14 and running until 8pm on March 15 in 2007) of the first lunar month. This is known as the Kwun Yum Open Treasury, and that's when tens of thousands of worshippers go to see Kwun Yum (觀音), also known as Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, to "borrow money".

To accomplish this, they shell out $45 (about US$5.75) for a red note bearing an imaginary amount of money from $6 million to as high as $350 million. They also take home a head of lettuce and a lai see packet filled with lotus seeds, peanuts and other nuts that symbolise prosperity in the coming year. The only catch is that they must return the red note before the beginning of the next Lunar New Year.

Because Kwun Yum is the deity of mercy, compassion and sympathy, believers hope she will hear their prayers and bestow them with good fortune.

Though Hong Kong has numerous Kwun Yum temples, the one at Station Lane is the most famous. Built in 1873, the temple is the subject of two legends.

The first story involves the construction of a road in 1909 that was to link Hung Hom with Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon City. While crews were digging in the hills, red water gushed from the earth. A rumour spread that they'd ruptured a vein of the dragon living in the area (in Cantonese, Kowloon, or gau luhng (九龍) means nine dragons), and workers no longer wanted to complete the road works. Even when informed the water's colour was a result of sulphur and mercury contamination, anxious crews gave money to the temple to ward off future calamities.

During WWII, the Japanese engaged in two heavy bombing raids over Hung Hom to annihilate the Whampoa Dock. People who ducked into a nearby school for cover suffered abundant casualties, but those hiding in the temple emerged unscathed. Local residents believed Kwun Yum performed a miracle.

Last year more than 100,000 people showed up to "borrow" from the Kwun Yum temple at Station Lane. One temple employee said:

In the past years, I met several people who borrowed money and won Mark Six. Once people borrow money from Kwun Yum, they will keep doing so.

Where else can you borrow "millions" for a year without paying any interest? And as a merciful goddess, Kwun Yum isn't likely to break your legs if you forget to return the red note.

Sweet deal.

Note: To get there take KMB bus no. 6C, 6F, 30X, 212 from the Kowloon side (or tunnel bus no. 106 or 115 from the Hong Kong side), get off at the junction of Wuhu Street and Kun Yam Street, and then walk for five minutes along Kun Yam Street to Station Lane.

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