That day was my birthday, and I really enjoyed that particular day. Together we went to the Green Hill Temple with sis Agatha.Why call Green Hill Temple? Actually is the translation of mandarin ‘Chin Shan Yen’ mean green hill area or stone… or Hokkien calls as ‘Cheh Sua’.
About two centuries ago, Ching San Yen area was already a prosperous port for Kuching. It served as one of the two major ports of entry to Kuching or Sarawak at large at that time (the other one is the Santubong river mouth), for vessels from the South China Sea.
The Brooke Administration at that time also had custom offices or the like established for purposes of taxation & other clearance. The temple was already established at that time for the Chinese immigrants. It also served as a first stop for the newly arriving Chinese immigrants to pay respect and to thank for the long safe journey, before moving on to the hinterland or other parts of Sarawak. Many adherents believe that Ching San Yen was built on a good Feng Shui; the prosperity of Kuching is associated with that since then. Accordingly, Ching San Yen is seated on a Golden Turtle in the North (the Muara Tebas hill), and facing a flowing river in front on the South. The location might have been chosen carefully by a Feng Shui master as believed, and thus continues to bring prosperity to the City of Kuching nearby!
Today, the Sarawak River mouth at Ching San Yen is the only river entry for vessels to Kuching after the completion of the Sungai Sarawak Regulation Scheme in 1997, which includes a causeway across the Santubong passage. In the past, heavy floods caused economic and social problems, devastated parts of residential and business areas such as the 1963 and 1982 major incidents. The SSRS is believed to minimize floods and has brought significant socioeconomic impact on Kuching.At the foot of the temple was a tombstone of ‘nibong wood’ was believed to be of a man who came about 100 years ago to Muara Tebas (Malay Village) to preach Islam. The ‘nibong wood’ suddenly turned to stone and it has become a shrine frequented by visitors all over the world especially during Chinese New Year.
It sited on top of a hill...and you had to walk a long staircase to reach it...
The temple itself is impressive and colourful. It had a small wishing pond and a big Buddha path, and really wonder what will be the shoe size if Buddha appear…The best thing of all is it is surrounded by Malay villages and along the Muara Sungai, makes the views so spectacular.
The children and us took a few pictures on the green hill. After a tiring climbing up and down the hill, we ended the day with a seafood feast at one restaurant of the fisherman village. Yummy!
Source from http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/ & http://www.cuti.com.my/
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