Chinese Herb Garden Revitalizes Central & Western District
Situated in its Queen Street project, the Chinese Herb Garden, a
public open space now under the auspices of the Leisure and
Cultural Services Department, is the first theme park - blended
with local characteristics - initiated by the Urban Renewal
Authority (URA).
Mr Edward Cheng, Chairman of the URA Board said today (Friday) at
the opening ceremony of this theme park, "The mission of the URA is
to sustain the vibrancy, both economically and environmentally, of
an old district, through its 4R Strategy, namely, Redevelopment,
Rehabilitation, Revitalisation and pReservation. Building on the
local culture and other characteristics, we flexibly link up our
revitalization efforts with our projects for synergy reasons. The
Chinese Herb Garden is a notable example of a redevelopment project
of ours nicely enriched with an element of revitalization."
Mr. Cheng added that Sheung Wan is a traditional area with a long
history. The development of Chinese medicine goes back to
over 100 years, with numerous shops selling not just Chinese
medicine, but also preserved marine products, birds' nests and
other much-sought-after medicinal stuff. It was for this reason
that the URA made an attempt to galvanize local efforts in all
concerned quarters with a view to coming up with something that
would best reflect this unique district character in its project.
This happily culminated in the current theme park in the site
boundaries of URA's Queen Street project. Known as Chinese
Herb Garden, this public open space promotes Chinese medicine
education on the one hand, and highlights the unique traditional
character of Sheung Wan on the other.
The park occupies some 1,300 square metres. Named after "Sheng
Non", commonly regarded as the god of Chinese medicine, the park
has in addition to a statue of Sheng Non, some 100 species of
Chinese herbs planted for public display in five distinct areas,
each with species of broadly similar herbal features. The
descriptions of the various species are augmented by a picture-rich
display board on one side of the park, all designed to stimulate
interest in, and to promote understanding of, this fascinating
aspect of Chinese culture. Indeed there is every prospect of
the theme park becoming a must for tourists.
Carrying a price tag of $1.3 million for construction, the Chinese
Herb Garden took over two years to complete.
"The project was possible only because of the immense contribution
made by our partners: the Central and Western District Council, the
Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Merchants Association, the Leisure and
Cultural Services Department, the Architectural Services Department
and District Office (Central & Western). I take this
opportunity to salute all of them," said Mr Cheng.
Mr. Cheng added that the URA will continue to embark on
revitalization projects in Sheung Wan in order to promote quality
living.
Present at the opening ceremony today were Mr. Thomas CHOW,
Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Mr. C H YUE,
Director of Architectural Services Department; Mr. CHAN Tak Chor,
Chairman of Central & Western District Council; Mr. Edward
CHENG, Chairman of Urban Renewal Authority; Mr. LEE Ying Sang,
Chairman of Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Merchants Association; Mr.
Billy LAM, Managing Director of Urban Renewal Authority; Ms. Eliza
YAU, District Officer (Central & Western); Mr. YEUNG Wai Foon,
Chairman of Working Group on Culture, Leisure and Sports Affairs of
the Central & Western District Council; Professor FUNG Yik Bun,
Advisor to Chinese Herb Garden; and Mr. CHAN Lap Yip, General
Manager (Marketing) of Hong Kong Tourism Board.
(END)