Rao Zongyi Cultural Center

Rao Zongyi Cultural Center

The 100 year old former Lai Chi Kok hospital complex on Castle Peak Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, will soon be converted into Rao Tsung Yi cultural center. On December 14, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Donald Tsang, the Secretary for development, Mrs Carrie Lam, and a generation of Sinology masters, Mr Rao Zongyi, officiated at the launching ceremony of the project. Among them, the exhibition hall and conservation hall, which are used to promote Rao's official documents and artistic achievements, will be completed as soon as the end of 2011, and will be open to the public free of charge.

brief introduction

With a history of nearly 140 years, this old building complex is composed of 20 Chinese style buildings, covering an area of 36000 square meters. It is a rare large garden style building complex in Hong Kong. It will be transformed into Rao Zongyi exhibition hall, small variety theater, reading room, etc. some outdoor spaces will become Chinese gardens with different themes. It is expected that by the end of 2011, Rao Zongyi exhibition hall will be built and open free of charge; by the end of 2012, the entire Rao Zongyi cultural hall will be fully open, becoming a new cultural landmark of Hong Kong.

build

The old Lai Chi Kok hospital, formerly known as the Chinese laborers' village, prison, infectious disease hospital and psychiatric nursing home, will be converted into Rao Zongyi cultural museum. Among them, Rao Zongyi exhibition hall and nursery will be opened as soon as the end of 2011. Rao Zongyi exhibition hall and conservation hall are located in the lower area of the old Lai Chi Kok hospital complex. The original red brick building will only be decorated internally, and the appearance such as Chinese double tile roof and red brick exterior wall will not be changed. A lotus pool will be added in the open air of the two halls to facilitate horticulture and cultural promotion. The exhibition hall will display two types of works by Rao Zongyi, a master of traditional Chinese culture, including calligraphy, painting and other works of art and academic works, as well as Rao Gong's famous lotus paintings. He pointed out that the exhibition of Rao Zongyi exhibition hall is a permanent exhibition, and the exhibits will be changed regularly, as well as free admission: "Rao Gong feels very happy after seeing the venue. He hopes that the exhibition hall can improve the cultural scene of Hong Kong and the quality of the people. He can put as many exhibits as the place can hold." The old Lai Chi Kok hospital complex covers an area of 36000 square meters. It is composed of more than 20 buildings of different sizes, which are divided into upper, middle and lower areas. It was formerly known as the Da Qing customs factory, and has a history of nearly 140 years. In October last year, it was rated as a level 3 historic building by the Antiquities Advisory Committee. In the middle of this year, it received a $230 million grant from the Legislative Council for its revitalization. The Hong Kong Chinese Culture Promotion Center will activate the buildings in the upper and central districts and is expected to be fully open by the end of 2012. There are five two-story buildings in the central area. The middle two buildings will be renovated to provide Chinese and Western restaurants and variety theaters with medium price dishes. The largest building will be a multi-purpose hall. The other two buildings will be activated as resource centers, classrooms and studios, and equipped with multimedia facilities such as computers, projectors and audio-visual data. Among them, the most distinctive feature is that the dining hall and the small variety theater will have a glass dome and a semi open "learning garden" in the center, and the walls on both sides will return to the old red brick walls. Li zhuofen said that the venue will be open to art and academic groups to rent: "catwalkshow can be held for academic groups, and Kunqu Opera, Cantonese Opera and other Chinese operas will also be available." After the renovation of the complex, you can reach the upper district along the "climbing corridor" next to the central resource center. A series of five buildings in the upper district will be converted into hostels, mainly providing about 100 economical accommodation rooms for cultural and academic exchange groups, scholars, students and "Backpackers".

influence

The project is one of the projects of the revitalizing historic buildings partnership in Hong Kong. With the theme of "Hong Kong Cultural Heritage", the Hong Kong Chinese Culture Promotion Center applied for the operation right of the project. The government of the special administrative region has named this place "Rao Zongyi cultural center" to honor Rao Zongyi, a famous master of Chinese culture. Speaking at the launching ceremony, Mr Tsang said that Professor Rao Zongyi has made outstanding achievements in history, archaeology, literature and Confucian classics. He is also an educator, calligrapher and painter. He has devoted all his life to promoting Chinese traditional culture. The establishment of "Rao Zongyi cultural center" not only praises Professor Rao's extraordinary achievements, but also injects rich cultural connotation into this activation project. I wish this cultural center will bring new humanistic atmosphere to Hong Kong in the future.

Address: 800 Castle Peak Road, Hong Kong

Longitude: 114.14236563558

Latitude: 22.337526038123