- Tiger Balm Garden (Hong Kong)
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For other places with the same name, see Tiger Balm Garden (disambiguation).
1965 photograph of some of the figures in the garden
Tiger Balm Garden (虎豹別墅), also called Aw Boon Haw Garden, was located at 15, Tai Hang Road, Tai Hang, Wan Chai District, Hong Kong. The garden was adjoining the Haw Par Mansion and its private garden. The Tiger Balm Garden was demolished for redevelopment[1] in 2004.[2] The Haw Par Mansion and its private garden have been preserved.[3]
Contents
History
1940 picture of the Tiger Pagoda.The landscaped garden was built at a cost of HK$16 million by Aw Boon Haw and his family in 1935.[4] Opened to the public in the early 1950s, it was one of the first theme parks in Hong Kong.[citation needed] In 1985, the garden was converted into the "Haw Par Villa" amusement park. Many of the sculptures were replaced by rides at that time, and were later replaced again by the old statues.[2]
In 1998 the heir to the property, Sally Aw Sian, sold the entire Garden complex to the land development company Cheung Kong for redevelopment.[2][5] The Hong Kong Government reached an agreement with Cheung Kong that, as part of the redevelopment, the Hong Kong Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was to preserve and restore the Haw Par Mansion itself together with its private garden as a museum.[6]
When the Tiger Balm Garden was demolished for redevelopment[1] in 2004, many of the garden's murals and statues were salvaged by the AMO.[2] The site of the Garden is now occupied by the residential development The Legend at Jardine's Lookout.[2] Occupancy of the residence started in the first quarter of 2007.[7]
Features
The original gardens covered eight acres (3.2 hectares).[1] A 7-storey Tiger Pagoda was the highlight of the garden. Other tourist attractions included artificial Chinese landscaping dotted with sculptures.
Haw Par Mansion
Street level view of Haw Par Mansion, with its pagoda-shaped gateway.The 3-storey Haw Par Mansion was the Aw family's residence in Hong Kong. It was built in 1935 in the Chinese Renaissance style.[3] There are more than 500 relics in the Mansion; they underwent restoration and repair[when?].[8] The building became a Grade II historic building[9] in 2000[3] and was granted Grade I status on December 18, 2009.[10]
Other gardens
The Hong Kong Haw Par Mansion and its formerly adjoining Tiger Balm Garden were one of three Tiger Balm mansions and gardens. The others are located in Singapore (now the Haw Par Villa) and in Fujian province, where the gardens remain.[2]
Street Fighter/Fei Long
The garden has been depicted in the 1993 Capcom video game Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers for character Fei Long as a fight stage.
References
- ^ a b c Hong Kong Island West Drainage Tunnel. Impact on cultural heritage. January 2006
- ^ a b c d e f Doug Meigs, "Balmy days of Tiger Balm heritage", China Daily eClips, Nov 11 2010
- ^ a b c Brief Information on Proposed Grade I Items. Item #94
- ^ orientalarchitecture.com "Tiger Balm Gardens (1935)"
- ^ "Nobody wants the Haw Par Mansion. Government groups reject Aw family home", South China Morning Post, 2 May 2007
- ^ Antiquities and Monuments Office.2004(DEC).Heritage Hong Kong(14)
- ^ thaiworldview.com "Tiger Balm Garden"
- ^ Antiquities and Monument Office. 2006. Heritage Hong Kong(16).
- ^ List of Graded Historic Buildings in Hong Kong (as at 6 November 2009PDF (387 KB)
- ^ List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (as of 25 January 2011)
Also See
- Haw Par Villa, Singapore
- Hwa Par Children Playground, Thailand
External links
Media related to Tiger Balm Garden (Hong Kong) at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Haw Par Mansion at Wikimedia Commons- Webpage with pictures of Haw Par Mansion (Chinese)
- Videos of Tiger Balm Garden: [1] [2]
- HK Government press release: "Haw Par Mansion to hold open days", October 21, 2010
- HK Government press release: "Invitation of tenders for conservation and revitalisation of Haw Par Mansion", January 28, 2011
- Plan showing the location of Haw Par Mansion, February 2004
- Picture of Haw Par Mansion
- The Role of an Estate Surveyor in Preserving Heritage - Haw Par Mansion, Tai Hang
- Tender invitation for the revitalisation of the Haw Par Mansion
Coordinates: 22°16′35.1″N 114°11′43.1″E / 22.276417°N 114.195306°E
Categories:- Tai Hang
- Former buildings and structures of Hong Kong
- Visionary environments
- Grade I historic buildings in Hong Kong
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