Discovery Bay is an interesting city when it comes to “faith.” It didn’t take me long to become aware of the lack of churches in the Bay, as in, I literally never saw a single church the first couple weeks. I was walking down a back alley in the Discovery Bay Plaza when I saw my first, and only church. It actually made me a little curious about the lack of religion.
Wikipedia says, “According to official statistics for the year 2016 among the Hong Kong people who belong to an organized religion there are: over 1 million Buddhists, over 1 million Taoists, 480,000 Protestants, 379,000 Catholics, 300,000 Muslims, 100,000 Hindus, 12,000 Sikhs, and other smaller communities.
The great majority of the population mostly follow Chinese traditional religions, which comprehend the worship of local gods and ancestors, in many cases not declaring this practice as a religious affiliation in surveys. The traditional Chinese religiosity was generally discouraged during British rule over Hong Kong, which favored Christianity. With the end of the British rule and the handover of the sovereignty of the city-state to China, there has been a renewal of Buddhist and Chinese folk religions.”
The only thing I could come up with;
- Honestly, I think parents are too busy working. Some of the parents I spoke to say a work day can be anywhere from 10 to 12 hours per day plus commute. I think the limited time people aren’t working, they are enjoying the family.
- Hong Kong has been a country of transition. With the Chinese religions being discouraged during the British rule and with Buddhist being a considerable part of the population, I think the concept of traditional “religion” or “churches” just isn’t a thing.
Here’s are my data points from Discovery Bay, I’m honestly not sure I can complete them:
- There are literally (4) churches in Discovery Bay.
- Size of Churches … of the only church I saw, it appeared to be a two-story school looking building.
- Denominations … according to Google Maps, all (4) churches seem to be Christian based.
- Services … no idea.
As for, what does “Sunday” mean, I found more families out on Sunday’s. Most of the Helpers are off on Sundays, so it really is a family day.
Literally, the only church I ever saw in Discovery Bay:
Research:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Hong_Kong
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Bay
What an interesting place and apparently your last leg of your “Where in the World are the Browns” journey. You unconsciously saved the best for last! 🙂 I’m sure you have lots of mixed emotions about returning to the States but there will be many open arms waiting for the Browns on your return. Safe travels and thanks for allowing me to travel along with you and your family Kath.
Lynn
Hey Lynn, not at all our last … I’m just behind in my posts! We are currently in Australia, but we visited Japan after Hong Kong — and we still have New Zealand and Chile to go! Check back in a few days! We will return to the USA on July 4th! Thanks for reading.