Wishing Tree

Long famous to both residents from Hong Kong & mainland China, as well as to international tourists, the Wishing Tree is a banyan tree planted nearby the Taoist, Tin Hou Temple in the village of Lam Tsuen. The site has been so popular that it claims its own exit on the expressway, and is accessible by both bus and minibus from the Taipo Market MTR station. (With the tree so close to the mainland border, a taxi all the way from HK would be a tad extravagant.)

I'd like to begin by dispelling a conventional tourist misconception: there are actually two Wishing Trees; the one right off the main road is the more famous tree, the one that is nearly ubiquitous in earlier TVB series. Village folklore says that this tree, known as the Spirit Tree, addresses wishes regarding good health and academics, while one closer to the temple is for prayers related to marriage and children. In popular images of these trees, they are laden with red slips of paper - on which the faithful convey their hearts' desires to their gods - and attached to small oranges to help the papers sail up to and settle upon the tree's branches; the higher the branch, the more likely your wish is to come true.

Unfortunately for this visitor and those who visited the trees after Chinese New Year of 2005, the Wishing Trees of yesteryear are no more. Since the main branch of the larger and more popular Spirit Tree broke off and broke an elderly visitor's leg during the CNY celebrations of February 2005, visitors are no longer permitted to hang their wishes on the Wishing Trees. Instead, wooden gates have been erected to contain all wishes, and what's left of the fallen branch is encased in a glass box with the government's apologies. Steel barriers now encircle the trees, and the small Taoist temples at the foot each tree are now enclosed by steel and padlocked as well.

The saddest change is that the two ailing trees are now supported by a grid of steel and rope structures. Today, the Wishing Trees are naught but a nostalgic visit for the curious tourist.