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    8 great finds at Tai Kwun, Hong Kong's new art and heritage space
    Uncover a few secrets lurking within the new Tai Kwun heritage and arts complex using our illustrated map
    Illustration: Lok Wong
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    Hong Kong SAR

    1) Tai Kwun’s oldest building

    The neo-Georgian D Hall dates from 1858, only 16 years after Hong Kong was ceded to Britain, and is the oldest datable building in the Tai Kwun complex. It was initially far more extensive but part of it has been knocked down over time. It has served as a prison block and a hospital, and now is home to a heritage storytelling space.

    A photo of Tai Kwun in Hong Kong

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    2) Bricks in aluminium

    You won’t miss the aluminium cladding, recycled from alloy wheels, that has been added to the exterior of JC Cube and JC Contemporary art galleries. But notice how the original brickwork of the complex has inspired the structure of these modern additions, and the continuity between old and new becomes apparent.

    A photo of Tai Kwun in Hong Kong

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    3) Ho Chi Minh’s exercise yard‭  ‬

    Ho Chi Minh was confined in Victoria Prison from 1931 to 1933, and his diaries describe being allowed out to exercise for 15 minutes a day in a narrow courtyard surrounded by walls, feeling like he was at the bottom of a well. The description best matches the yard between A and B Halls, and work is currently under way to add barbed wire to the top of the surrounding walls to recreate Ho’s descriptions even more closely.

    A photo of the prison at Tai Kwun

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    4) Life behind bars

    Victoria Prison was Hong Kong’s first and longest-running prison, operating from 1841 to 2006. The cells in B Hall have been left intact. There’s no aircon, and artistic installations mimic the shouts, clatters and monotony of daily prison life to produce a walk-through both sobering and engaging.

    The spiral staircase at Tai Kwun

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    5) Spiral staircase

    This four-storey concrete spiral staircase that winds up through the galleries is a sculptural work of art in its own right. Created by acclaimed architects Herzog & de Meuron, this showpiece stairwell aims to encapsulate Tai Kwun’s modern outlook amid its historic settings.

    The mango tree in the courtyard at Tai Kwun in Hong Kong.

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    6) A legendary mango tree

    Many police officers believed if the giant mango tree in the parade ground courtyard bore plenty of fruit the year would be filled with promotions. However, others felt that lots of fruit was a bad omen. Some sources posit that Indian police officers introduced the mango to their Hong Kong counterparts.

    The facade of Tai Kwun in Hong Kong

    Photo: Mike Pickles

    7) Wall perfection

    Renovations to the facade of the 99-year-old Police Headquarters called for thousands of new red bricks. So the heritage team traced the same British brickworks that made the originals a century ago and commissioned it to custom produce 15,000 red bricks. A real victory for brick completists everywhere.

    8) The Catholic mural

    A colourful mural depicting a cross potent (a common motif in Roman Catholicism) was uncovered during renovations at the entrance to the superintendent’s house, which had been converted into a chapel. It has now been restored for the public to examine.

    Hero illustration: Lok Wong

    Hong Kong travel information

    Country / Region
    Hong Kong SAR
    Language
    Cantonese, English
    Airport code
    HKG
    Currency
    HKD
    Time zone
    GMT +08:00
    Climate
    Subtropical
    Country / Region
    Hong Kong SAR
    Time zone
    GMT +08:00
    Currency
    HKD
    Airport code
    HKG
    Language
    Cantonese, English
    Climate
    Subtropical
    Find the best fares to
    Hong Kong SAR