Photo of the day No. 30 - Tai Kwun Complex Hong Kong
A Hong Kong Government Heritage Restoration Project
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.
I have personally completed 2,300+ Private Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.
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Photo of the day No. 30 - Tai Kwun Complex Hong Kong
A Hong Kong Government Heritage Restoration Project
click on the image to enlarge
Tai Kwun is Hong Kong’s beating cultural heart, enabled by The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) and the Hong Kong Government.
“A vibrant, welcoming space that brings people together, Tai Kwun is committed to inspiring the community through arts, culture and heritage. Located in the heart of Central, Hong Kong, Tai Kwun brings creative energy into our city by providing the people of Hong Kong with access to a variety of immersive, world-class experiences. It is open for all members of our community to enjoy, nurturing appreciation for arts, heritage and culture.
Tai Kwun supports youth in our community with the skills and development opportunities needed to thrive in the creative industries. Together with HKJC, Tai Kwun aspires to contribute to a culturally vibrant Hong Kong, amplifying the city’s role as a thriving arts and cultural hub in the region and the global arena.
The relationship between HKJC and Tai Kwun continues HKJC’s longstanding role as a supporter of the city’s iconic arts and cultural institutions, which aligns with HKJC’s purpose of acting continuously for the betterment of our society. HKJC funded the revitalisation and continues to fund the ongoing operation of Tai Kwun, which consist of three Declared Monuments – the former Central Police Station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison – transforming the historic site into an accessible world-class centre for arts, culture and heritage. In 2019, Tai Kwun received the Award of Excellence in the 2019 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.”
I really want to like Tai Kwun in Hong Kong which has been around for a good number of years and each time I go there I end up staying for a few minutes only as the crowds are overwhelming and it just now has the feel of an open air market with a zillion people trying to take selfies.
It has opened in stages since 2018 and the crowds get bigger and bigger by all accounts they have had well over 20 million visitors since opening, that is a staggering number of people.
“Tai Kwun has welcomed 20 million visits! Each visit represents a heartbeat, an experience shared, a story told, and a moment treasured. This incredible milestone is a testament to the vibrant community that surrounds us. Thank you for being part of our journey, for exploring art, culture, and history with us, and for making Tai Kwun a vibrant welcoming space for everyone.
Together, let’s continue to create and celebrate unforgettable moments. Here’s to many more heartbeats to come!”
This blurb translates into 20 million + visitors pushing and shoving trying to take selfies
I urge you to have a look at the official website, click on the link above, it sums up the place very nicely.
As a private tour guide it is my meaning in life to show Hong Kong in an interesting way within generally a time frame of 3 - 8 hours for guests who are probably in Hong Kong for 1 - 2 days only, so the itinerary I put together has to fit the time frame.
I am quite sure the Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong Tourism Board would love that I take ALL my guests to Tai Kwun but other than a quick flying visit on the way to other more interesting things I just do not think it is worth the time you need to explore the vast complex, you could easily spend 3 or 4 hours there, no problem, but I should stress that it is the sort of place where you can easily visit without a Private Tour Guide. it is located on Hollywood Road and is fairly easy to get to on the Mid Levels escalator.
Tai Kwun: where heritage and art take flight
Yep, a snappy title written by Luxe City Guides for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the title is fine the actual reality is something else entirely. I was recently there twice in a period of 4 days and stayed both times for less than 5 minutes because quite simply the crowds where overwhelming and people would actually push us out of the way to take selfies.
Whilst I love the buildings (I have been familiar with the original complex since 1972) I hate the fact that it is full of shops, restaurants and has a tacky market bazaar feel and honestly whilst it is the sort of place where you can reflect on art, heritage and such, the vast majority of visitors just see it as a place to take some great selfies and they simply could not care less about the heritage aspects of the site.
Even sitting in the massive courtyard for a drink and snack is completely spoilt by the heaving mass of humanity.
Quite simply it is a victim of its own success and in my humble opinion it is just a massive tourist trap and you have to work very hard to see all the cultural items of interest and make sense of it all.
For some reason or another a lot of tour companies seem to make Hollywood Road the focus of tours (group tours and such) because in my parlance Hollywood Road in Central | Sheung Wan is resplendent with stocking fillers, lots of attractions within a 10 minute walking radius (Tai Kwun, PMQ, Man Mo Temple and a juice stall and egg tart shop) and this works out very nicely for lazy tour guides.
It is a shame that the Hong Kong Government | Hong Kong Tourism Board seem to judge “attractions” on visitor numbers, for me Tai Kwun has the status heritage wise right up there with the Palace Museum in West Kowloon and Tai Kwun would be much, much better without the massive crowds and that genie is out of the bottle, it is only going to get worse.
I imagine many visitors to Hong Kong who do not take tours will find themselves on Hollywood Road and I imagine that that they will like Tai Kwun and that is great but if you are only in Hong Kong for 1 - 2 days you have to take into account time and there are much more interesting things to see.
click on the image to enlarge
This map is excellent to give you an idea of the scope of Tai Kwun, you need to visit the official website to get all the details about each building. the crowded places are building 01, 02 and 03 and the parade ground and a lot of people love to sit in the jail cells for a selfie!
So don’t mind me, go to Tai Kwun and enjoy yourself
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong |
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