Retirement into an Age of Glory — Tai Kwun in Central

In all considerations, the Tai Kwun has retired into an age of glory by now. Tai Kwun is the former Central Police Station that operated during the early colonial days until the 2000’s. Standing as a revitalized cultural space consisting of three declared monuments, Tai Kwun presents the public with an opportunity to revisit a part of Hong Kong history that was once ridden with the unpleasantries of a sometimes-unjust system of justice. In 1841 when Britain formally took over Hong Kong, the Colonial Government set up the Hong Kong Police Force. The first “police station” in Hong Kong was a mere mat-shed shelter on a site next to what would become Tai Kwun in Central. Tai Kwun, meaning “the big police station,” served as the headquarters for law enforcement between the late 19th century and the Second World War. It became the regional headquarters for Hong Kong Island after the war, as it was also the police station for the Central district. With its decommission in 2004, it stepped down from its former role as a law enforcement institute. In Tai Kwun there are about 20 blocks of buildings that served various functions in the former Central Police Station. In my opinion, there are four must-see structures. As three of them are declared monuments, they are representative of the collective history of Tai Kwun. Facing Hollywood Road is the Central Police Station. Now serving mostly as a space of exhibitions displaying aspects of Hong Kong’s local history and culture, the Police Headquarters Block stands grand and stately as what might be the most eye-catching architecture in this part of Central. The Central Magistracy was the first building in Tai Kwun’s ensemble of former law enforcement agencies. Built in 1841, the year that the British took over Hong Kong as its colony, the Central Magistracy was an indispensable arm of colonial administration as the “busiest court of justice” that tried more than three million people. Known as the Victoria Gaol in the earliest days, the Victoria Prison was a structure of 1842 as the longest-running prison in Hong Kong’s history. An intriguing fact that I learned at the Tai Kwun was that Ho Chi Minh, the most significant statesman and founder of communist Vietnam, had once been kept in the Victoria Prison. Steeped in historic vibes, the Barrack Block is also a beautiful structure with a neoclassical façade. Built in 1864, the Barrack Block gave home to 200 single constables and also single and married sergeants. #taikwun #taikwunhongkon #taikwuncentralpolicestation #tai_kwun #central #hongkong #hongkonghistory #magistracy #victoriaprison #barrackblock #policestation #historicallandmarks #declaredmonument #museums#citydaytours#china