Why are there so many people outside the Haw Par Mansion 虎豹別墅 on its open day? It is part of HongKonger’s collective memories.
The mansion was built by Aw Boon Haw 胡文虎, a Burmese-Chinese tycoon, who produce the very famous ointment - Tiger Balm oil 萬金油, in 1930s.
This Mansion is one of the three Tiger Balm Mansions in the world - another two in FuJian and Singapore respectively. The ones in Hong Kong and Singapore also has a theme park for public enjoyment and to promote Chinese values - do good things (the theme park was full of sculptures showing the different ways the King of Hell punishes people who did bad things). It was a nightmare to the kids 😅
The Tiger Balm garden in Hong Kong was where locals visit during weekends in the past. Have I been to the Tiger Balm garden before? Yes! When I was 3 years old. And then in 1998, the Aw family sold the entire Garden complex to Cheung Kong Holdings for redevelopment. To preserve this garden, the government made an agreement with Cheung Kong Holdings, but the theme park was still demolished in 2004.
The remaining 1/8th of the original garden has turned into a music centre - Haw Par Music. The other part was demolished and used to build luxury houses - the Legend at Jardine’s Lookout.
Can you still visit the Haw Par Mansion now?
Yes! It is open to public daily until 6pm. In order to have access to all rooms in the mansion, you need to book a guided tour at https://www.hawparmusic.org in advance. Check out @HarParMusic for more information.
@hongkong_greeters managed to go into the mansion yesterday 👏🏻👏🏻 thanks for all these photos!
Where is it? 15A Tai Hang Road, Tai Hang 香港大坑大坑道15號A
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