Thursday, August 23, 2018

Die Sieben Masken des Judoka - Heinz Drache (1967) - Tiger Balm Gardens, Tai Hang

This was a favourite location for filming during the 60's courtesy of the brightly coloured statues. It was demolished by Li Ka-shing circa 2003 in an effort to curry favour with the Communist Party of China. The reason is because of the large amount of pro-Nationalist imagery on display. The associated mansion was saved from demolition but is still empty as far as I know awaiting re-use. Of all the Nationalist symbolism in the park my favourite was always the "Double Tenth" archway.


The concrete archway was made up of two Chinese characters for the number 10 (十十). For those not aware of this bit of history, the 10th of October (i.e. 10/10) 1911 was the start of the "Wuchang Uprising" that basically kicked off the revolution that eventually overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established China as a republic. It's still celebrated as the National Day in Taiwan. This, and the abundance of other Republic of China references, including the famous Blue Sky/White Sun emblem, meant that eventually someone would take the initiative to show willingness to rid HK of these reminders of the other "China". 

I was lucky enough to see it pre-handover, and although well past its peak, it was a fun day afternoon wandering around the terraces. No post about this place can go without a plethora of other images so here they are.

True Light Middle School in the background (still there, unlike the garden)

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