Chi Lin Nunnery

This guide to Chi Lin Nunnery in Kowloon traces how a modest 1930s convent, cleared away for a tunnel project in 1988, was rebuilt from a painted vision of paradise found in the Mogao Caves. It follows the decision to recreate an entire Tang Dynasty complex using dougong, the ancient system of interlocking wooden brackets rather than nails. Look past the lotus ponds to the tower blocks of Kowloon crowding in on every side.