Almost opposite the crossing you will find steps leading down, and to the right of them you will see the roofs of the Pak Tai Temple, the next destination. His birthday is the third day of the third moon. Pak Tai is the patron of the insects, and the Feast of the Awakening of the Insects from Hibernation is celebrated at this temple two weeks before the Spring Equinox. Walk through the sitting-out area and turn right at the first road, Lung On Street. This will bring you to the entrance of the temple, which was built in 1865. Before going in, stand back and admire the Shekwan pottery roof ridge of this beautiful and peaceful temple. As you enter the temple immediately on your right you will find the Earth God, dressed in yellow. Facing you in the centre is the temple's prize possession, a very large and imposing bronze statue of Pak Tai seated on a throne with snake arms to it. This statue dates from the Ming Dynasty (1604) and no one knows how it arrived here. As usual Pak Tai is barefoot. According to a local legend, a wartime looter who stole a copper turtle and snake from under Pak Tai's feet very quickly came to a bad end. If you stand in front of Pak Tai and look up to the right and left, you will see beautiful old wood carvings above the beams on either side. Walking round the temple from left to right, pass the opening into the temple keeper's house and go up some steps. There, ranged along the left-hand wall, you will find the Sixty Year Gods. Opposite them on the right are the drum and bell of the temple. Along the back wall of the temple, the first altar is dedicated to Pao Kung, the God of Justice. Next to him sits Lu Tung Pin, one of the Eight Immortals and worshipped by the sick. Pak Tai again takes centre stage. His four guardians stand in pairs on either side in front of him These statues are more than 100 years old and cast in bronze. Notice the intricate details of their dress. The third altar is dedicated to Kwan Yin (see page ?). In the corner beside her, standing on the floor with a green horse is Jung Kwae (or Ch'ung Kuei), the ghost catcher, who can dispel suffering. He is responsible for making sure that everything keeps to its right time and place. If you continue round the temple passing the temple keeper's stall, you will come to a door into a smaller adjoining temple. Go through it and turn left, walking through the courtyard with its big furnace on the right. Here you will find a small temple with three altars, the left-hand one to the popular Kwan Yin and the middle one to the God of Wealth. The right-hand altar shows the gold-painted Earth God with his hands folded to show his kindness. Turning back you come to the front temple where there is an altar to Lung Mo (Sei Fo Niang Niang), the Dragon Mother. Here the maker of paper goods for funerals plies his trade. He produces all those necessities that make it possible for the dead to live comfortably in the underworld. You will see his creations stacked on the walls and hanging from the roof of the temple. It is fascinating to watch the deft way he uses glue and paper. As you come out, in the corner by the large rubber tree you will find a small pond for the temple tortoises, the symbols of longevity. To the right of the main temple as you come out is an ancestor shrine containing photographs of the departed.