Another Sacred Tree

Bough Breaks, Threatening a Traditional Wishing Tree By KEITH BRADSHER

People from across Hong Kong and nearby mainland China, as well as tourists from around the world, have long come to light incense and make wishes beneath the spreading limbs of a huge Chinese banyan here in Lam Tsuen, a bustling village near the mainland border. Respect for the banyan, which is hundreds of years old, is based partly on feng shui, a Chinese system of philosophy that emphasizes harmony with nature, and partly on centuries-old local beliefs about the mystical value of trees. The tree is so popular that it shows up on highway signs and has its own expressway exit.

But the tree's main limb suddenly broke over the weekend with a loud crack during Chinese New Year festivities.

The entire limb fell to the ground, breaking the left leg of a 62-year-old man. Some branches also scratched the head of an unrelated 4-year-old boy, who was treated at a local hospital and released...

Tree specialists brought in by the local government this week found other problems. They counted more than 1,000 breaks in the bark, some of them old injuries that might have been inflicted years ago by stones. Insects then entered the tree through the injured areas, to the point that 70 percent of the tree is now very unhealthy and it may not survive, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday.

There's another sacred tree here.