Lover's Rock

A few steps further along on your right you will see a sign saying 'Lovers' Stone Garden' and steps going steeply up the hillside. Take these steps up, passing as you go some shrines to Kwan Yu. Halfway up under a rocky overhang you will find a small temple with coils of incense burning. Continue on up the steps until you emerge at the top. The sight of the great rock jutting out of the hillside is very dramatic. This rock is known in Cantonese as Yan Yuen Sek or Marriage Fate Rock and was mentioned by the historian, Eitel, in his writings as much visited in the mid-nineteenth century. It is visited by lonely girls wanting boyfriends, and married couples or impatient grannies looking for an heir to the family name (see page ?). You can walk round the great stone on platforms built out on the rocks beside the shrine to admire the breathtaking views over Wan Chai and Happy Valley and across the harbour to the former Kai Tak airport and the nine dragon hills that encircle Kowloon. The bottles of water hanging from the tree on the other side of the path from the rock are to hopefully ensure a supplicant's prosperity since, in Cantonese, sui, meaning water, signifies wealth. After a rest, return to the main path and turn left, retracing your steps over the storm nullah to the cross-paths. This time turn right, taking the steep, downhill path. (Wan Chai Gap Road) On the right of the path about three-quarters of the way down stands a magnificent India Rubber Tree (Ficus Elastica) marked by a metal plaque that gives you its details. When you reach Kennedy Road, turn right and cross Kennedy Road at the pedestrian crossing opposite St James Primary School.