Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall Listed as Declared Monument in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government announced on the 30th by gazette that, in accordance with the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall and the Main Block of the Old Tsan Yuk Hospital in Sai Ying Pun have been listed as declared monuments.

As for Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall, also known as the 'People's Temple', it is located on Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan. It was funded and established by the Chinese elite and completed in 1895. The hall houses the ancestral tablets of Chinese workers who passed away in Hong Kong in earlier years, and enshrines deities such as Ksitigarbha, Ji Gong, So Wah Bo, and Tai Sui. In its early days, Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall also provided shelter and medical services for the sick, the poor, and the elderly without family, which later contributed to the founding of Tung Wah Hospital. The hall features a rarely seen architectural layout among Hong Kong temples, known as a three-hall-two-courtyard with a single bay, and the most striking architectural feature is the Shiwan ceramic decorations on the main ridge of the front hall.

The Old Tsan Yuk Hospital on Western Street, Sai Ying Pun was established by the Chinese Public Dispensary Committee and opened in 1922, providing obstetric services for Chinese women in Hong Kong and modern training for Chinese midwives. After the hospital was relocated to a new site at Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun in 1955, the original site’s main block was used as a community center in 1961, and it still plays an important role in public healthcare and community services today. The main block is a distinctive red-brick building set on a granite base, featuring a granite porch at the main entrance and a spiral staircase inside.