CLOSED: Hong Fa Temple

Had lunch at Hong Fa Temple today. Not busy, restaurant a la carte menu but the food quality was decidedly average. Even in this vegetarian desert there are much better possibilities in Shenzhen. Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens are OK, but a little over-managed and boring. The Temple is simply yuk! No spirit, no character, no feeling - completely devoid of any emotion (other than Chinese people praying for money to rain down on them.) My advice is give it all a miss, head out of this cultural desert to Yunnan!

I hate to say it - but this place is kind of a waste of a journey. It's in Shenzhen, so not a long taxi ride, but then you have to take a crowded shuttle bus winding up a hill with Buddhist television blasting Sino-Sanskrit chants through your brain. Once you arrive at the brand new - basically fake - temple/monastery, the restaurant is around the corner.
The restaurant offered only a set menu when I went on a Sunday - don't know if it's the same during the week. Your dishes come shrink-wrapped to proved sterility - which is tacky but refreshing and reassuring in China. The food was interesting, but not wonderful. It was OK.
All-in-all, if you're in Shenzhen for a while like I am, then try this place once. If you're only here for a few days, don't waste your time. The complex gardens would be nice if the place weren't so @£%!&* crowded.