Heritage of Central district

The future meets the past in Hong Kong and nowhere can you see this more clearly than in the Central district. We see among historic buildings that are nestled amid stunning skyscrapers, where the ancient art of feng shui influences modern architecture, along streets whose very names evoke the colourful history of this amazing territory.


The heart of Hong Kong city, the Central district, has been developing since inception of British rule in 1841. Western-style buildings sprang up as the city grew prosperously and the early 20th century saw Hong Kong develop into a metropolis. Extensive reclamations extending the waterfront and development projects were carried out during different periods and although the outlook of the city is ever changing, many historical buildings and structures still survive as standing testimony to the history of the Central district.

Statue Square - over which a seated bronze statue of Queen Victoria once reigned. Within the square stands the elegant and modern HSBC – the fourth HSBC building to occupy the site over a period of 150 years. Built in the early 1980s by Lord Norman Foster, it is a fascinating example of how feng shui and modern environmental features have been merged in present-day Hong Kong.

The Legislative Council - one of Hong Kong’s last remaining colonial buildings. Built from Kowloon granite in the neoclassical style, this elegant and historic building once served as the Supreme Court and is situated on reclaimed land.

The Court of Final Appeal - a building of historic importance in Hong Kong. The present three-storey building was built in 1917 on the foundation of a previous structure and is constructed of granite and red bricks. The first Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Henry Pottinger, resided there from 1843 to 1846. The building then had several owners (including an American trading house and the Russian consulate), and was acquired by the French Mission in 1915 - a name by which it is still commonly referred today.

St John’s Anglican Cathedral - this beautiful Cathedral, built in the shape of a cross, is a survivor of the earliest buildings of the British era, built on the only freehold lease in Hong Kong, and is unchanged since it early days. It is the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in Hong Kong, and the oldest Anglican church in the Far East, with construction completed in 1849. It was declared a monument in 1996.

Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery

Buddhist Monastery is one of the popular heritages in Hong Kong. When we talk about Hong Kong heritage, it cannot do without Buddhist Monastery. Today I would like to introduce a Buddhist Monastery which located in Tuen Mun. I always see the Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery in my home; it's a magnificent building really.

The monastery was built in 1950 but the adjoining three-storey Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, which took six years to build, was completed and enshrined in May 1980. The magnificent Main Worship Hall has a building height of about 21 metres and features three 4.8 metre tall gold-plated statues of Buddha Sakyamuni. Its interior walls are adorned with thousands of Buddha images and paintings featuring Thai and Chinese culture. The Pagoda comprises a vihara and the Court of the Jade Buddha. A 20-metre column carved with giant gold-plated dragons on both sides guards the main entrance of the pagoda. The monastery also offers vegetarian food.

The 7-storey main complex of Miu Fat Monastery is now opened. The complex is meticulously designed with Lotus Shrine on top floor resembling a gigantic crystal lotus blossom viewed from afar. Open to the public from 9am - 5pm every day.

Address: 18 Castle Peak Road, Lam Tei, Tuen Mun, New Territeries

Hong Kong Railway Museum

Hong Kong Railway Museum is an open-air railway museum opened in 1985,which located in Shung Tak Stree ,Tai Po. It is a branch museum of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and now under the management of the Leisure and Cultural Service Department.. It is located at the site where the Old Tai Po Market Railway Station was built in 1913.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section) opened in 1910 and Tai Po Market Railway Station was built in 1913 , was one of the stops in the New Territories. At that time, it acted as a centre of administration and trade which indirectly boosted Tai Wo Market's economy by bringing traders there. As the KCRC introduction the electric trains in 1980s ,the new Tai Po Market Railway Station opened in 1983 (to the north (Tai Wo) and south (Tai Po Market)), so the old Tai Po Market Railway Station was close in the same year of April 6.In 1984 KCRC given the old Tai Po Market Railway Station(he buildings and relevant exhibits) to government for the construction of the Museum and opened at 1985.With the long history of this station , it is vaulable for tourist to visit and know about the old Hong Kong.

Inside the museum, it includes the distinctive station building , a narrow-gauge steam locomotive was added the museum in1997, a diesel electric engine named “Sir Alexander” locomotive No. 51 which introduced in Hong Kong in 1955 and added into the museum in2004, also there are six historical coaches that the people are willing to go inside the train to sit and touch it ,so it can increase the experiential values of this station . Other than that there is a red-brick office building too .In the museum there was displaying a lot of the tools used, the train model, signal systems, picture of history and have two exhibition room that show the train tickets and train models ( not only KCR trains but also Japanese Shinkansen and Eurostar)and introduce the history and the development of the train and train station. So it have a high cultural value on it.


About the old station building ,it is architecture different from the other stations along architecture that commonly found in existing old southern Chinese temples, the ridge and gables of the building are adorned with auspicious Chinese motifs ,such as red bats ,peonies and magpies ,which are characteristic decorations on traditional Chinese residences and welcomed by the public at that time.



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Gloden Age Tour( Part 2)

Wow! The second attraction is Hollywood Road. This is near by Bonham Strand West. Hollywood Road is the first street in Hong Kong and more than 100 years old of the history. Why this street so famous in Hong Kong? You know about “The World of Suzie Wong”. The America actor was visit to Hong Kong to make the Hollywood movie .However, the name of street is not related in the Hollywood movie. This is the paint Iiex.

I walk in the street, it make me feel the tradition and western combination. First I saw Man Mo Temple, commonly sort of temple worshipping the Man Tai, Pau Kung and Mo Tai , Kwan Yu, to pray for good results in examinations in China. Is it special? Many parents bring their children visit the temple. They hope the good result or study in famous from their children. But finally, studies work hard is the important point to be success. I remind you one thing, it id unhealthy place because the dense smoke spread in there. Be careful!

In The next time , I will contnue to introdue about Hollywood Road. It is the long-long story. Don’t miss it!

How to go:

1. Bus 26 outside Pacific Place at Admiralty to Hollywood Road and get off near Man Mo Temple.

2. MTR Central Station Exit D2 and turn right to Theatre Lane. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Center. Then take the Central - Mid-Levels Escalator to Hollywood Road.

By Renee Lam

Cultural heritage - Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Did you ever think that Cheung Chau Bun Festival is a heritage?

It is a cultural heritage of Hong Kong. This activity has been practised for more than 100 years. We need to protect it, like we protect the real heritage!

This is one of those unique festivals that will leave you spellbound and provide lifelong memories – and it all happens on the tiny island of Cheung Chau, once home to some of the most notorious pirates in the South China Sea.

Jiao-festival of Cheung Chau:

Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague in the late Qing dynasty. Local residents set up a sacrificial altar in front of Pak Tai Temple to pray to the god, Pak Tai, to drive off evil spirits. The residents even paraded the deity statues through the village lanes. The plague ended after performance of the ritual. Since then, residents on Cheung Chau have organised a Bun Festival every year to express thanks to the god for blessing and protecting them.

The festival also provides a platform for residents to perform their folk craft, such as making paper-mache effigies of deities, setting up the bamboo scaffolding of the Bun Mountain, and making handmade buns in preparation for the Bun Festival. This is accompanied by folk performing arts like Taoist rituals and music, a parade, lion dances, qilin dances and drum beating. The elderly residents participate in this festive activity with their children, preserving it from one generation to the next.

The weeklong festival climaxes with a large, carnival-like street procession featuring costumed children on stilts held aloft above the crowd, lion dances and other colourful participants. The parade winds its way through the narrow streets to the grounds near the Pak Tai Temple, which are dominated by enormous bamboo towers studded with sweet white buns, and where the main festivities take place. At midnight, athletes scramble up one of the towers in a contest to grab the top-most 'luckiest' ones.

Sources:
http://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%AA%E5%B9%B3%E6%B8%85%E9%86%AE
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/tc/events/festival-cheung-chau-bun.html

LUNG YEUK TAU HERITAGE TRAIL

Here, i want to show you one of the famous heritage trail ,named Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage trail! Have Fun!!

Shek Lo
Located just outside Fanling in the North East New Territories, the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail was opened in 1999. The name Lung Yeuk Tau was derived from the nearby mountain range Lung Yeuk Ling whose name came from the legendary saying that there was once a dragon leaping in the area.

Shrine at Sin Shut Study Hall. The building, which is still occasionally used for holding banquets is private property, not normally open to the public

Lung Yeuk Tau still practice traditional village customs some of which include a Tin Hau Festival, a lantern lighting ceremony for new born baby boys on the fifteenth day of the first Lunar month. On the first day of the second Lunar month there is an ancestral worship ceremony and vegetarian feast. Once every decade the Tai Ping Ching Chiu Festival (meaning “the Purest Sacrifice Celebrated for Great Peace”) is held and celebrated by the whole Lung clan and people from surrounding villages. Many traditional Chinese buildings and structures such as temples and ancestral halls, walls and entrance gates of walled villages and residences still retain their original appearance and can be visited along the trail.

The 54K bus stop for the trail is clearly marked at Fanling Station Green Minibus Terminus

View Larger Map

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum is located in the Kom Tong Hall. Dr Sun had not set foot at Kom Tong Hall throughout his life, but he was related to Ho Kom Tong, the original owner of the premises. They were both born in 1866 and were the graduates of the Central School, the present Queen's College, in 1886. Ho's elder brother, Sir Robert Ho Tung, even rendered support towards Dr Sun's revolutionary activities. Given the close relations between Ho's family and Dr Sun, Kom Tong Hall is the most suitable venues for the setting up of a Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum.








Kom Tong Hall was built by in 1914. At this three-storey building, the facade of the top two floors is supported by the Greek-style granite columns surrounding the curved balconies. Inside are two flights of staircases. Being a typical Edwardian classical building, Kom Tong Hall is majestic and magnificent, and is among the very few surviving structures in Hong Kong. The stained-glass windows, veranda wall tiles and staircase railings are all preserved intact.

There are now totally two permanent exhibition in the museum. They are“Dr Sun Yat-sen and Modern China”and “Hong Kong in Dr Sun Yat-sen's Time”. “Dr Sun Yat-sen and Modern China” aims at explaining how Dr Sun was transformed from an aspiring medical student into a renowned revolutionary leader. A scene setting and an array of historical photographs are provided, in order to help reconstruct the legendary life of this great Chinese statesman. Visitors will get a thorough understanding on his studies and revolutionary campaign, and understand how Dr Sun got his revolutionary ideas in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong in Dr Sun Yat-sen's Time” is themed with the inseparability between this great Chinese statesman and Hong Kong. After going through his activities in Hong Kong, visitors will be motivated to think about why and how did Hong Kong in the late 19th century nurture someone like Dr Sun Yat-sen who possessed such progressive revolutionary ideas. With the display of invaluable artifacts, this exhibition will illustrate explicitly the role of Hong Kong as a revolutionary pivot in the late Qing era.

Opening hour:

• Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Saturday: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
• Sunday and Public Holidays: 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
• Closed at 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve and Lunar New Year's Eve
• Closed on Thursday (except Public Holidays, the anniversaries of Dr Sun's birth (12 November) and death (12 March)) and on the first two days of Lunar New Year

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