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Hong Kong —

Every year, in the middle of summer, hundreds of Hong Kong construction workers and engineers walk up some 200 steps to Ching Lin Terrace in the seaside neighborhood of Kennedy Town.

There, in one of the city’s temples, they gather and pay their respects to Lo Pan, a legendary Chinese carpenter from the Zhou dynasty and patron saint of builders and contractors.

Even in the sweltering heat, workers cram into the tiny temple’s smoke-filled foyer with incense and candlesticks in hand. Bowing several times, they chant slogans in honor of the construction deity’s birthday and pray for a stable year of work.

“I always tell people that Lo Pan is like our Michelangelo. He is a designer, an architect and an engineer,” said Lawrence Ng, president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub-Contractors Association, which represents the city’s waterproofing, metalwork and scaffolding professionals, among others.

Members of the Hong Kong Construction Sub-Contractors Association pay tribute to Lo Pan, the patron saint of builders and engineers, at Lo Pan Temple in Hong Kong on July 7, 2025. Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

“We must pay respects to the workers who came before us, and Lo Pan is our ‘sifu’ (master).”

Worshipping Lo Pan has taken on a particular significance in today’s precarious economy, Ng said.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the city has seen a decline in large scale construction projects, leaving many laborers without steady, long-term employment. Among them are the city’s “spidermen” — thousands of construction workers trained in the ancient technique of bamboo scaffolding.

Part of the city’s visual language

On a slope behind Lo Pan temple is a towering residential building covered in a familiar sight to th