Tai Kwun is a collection of 16 heritage buildings including the former Central Police Station, Victoria Prison and Central Magistracy (declared monuments in HK) which after a decade of restoration by the HK Jockey Club and local Government, were reopened this year, creating a new centre for heritage and arts that is free for the public and visitors to HK to enjoy.

Within Tai Kwun, you will find a large open space - former parade grounds, flanked by architecturally beautiful colonial buildings - Police Headquarter and Barrack Block. These are now used for public art exhibitions, retail shopping and restaurants. There is a Visitor Centre on the ground floor that is open from 10am to 8pm daily. This is where you pick up maps of the various Tai Kwun buildings, events and performance schedules and learn more about buildings and history of the Tai Kwun project.

In addition to the heritage buildings which can be explored, there are new buildings that form part of Tai Kwun. These are the chrome coloured and sleekly designed JC Clube and JC Contemporary (also referred to as Tai Kwun Contemporary) buildings. The first is a new multi-purpose auditorium while the later has been dedicated for contemporary art exhibitions. We very much enjoyed a couple hours recently going through Chinese artist Cao Fei's three floor exhibition (until 4 January 2019) at JC Contemporary. In this particular venue, Hong Kong now has a contemporary art gallery it can be proud of.

We also enjoyed the winding paths between the smaller heritage buildings of the former Victoria Prison. Here you pop into various Halls to view old prison cells which are now used for exhibitions detailing the history of the prison and historical accounts of over a century of cell life at the prison.

Other buildings within Tai Kwun, such as the important Declared Monument Central Magistracy are being used for additional Heritage Storytelling Space, providing more small exhibitions and cultural experiences to be had during time spent at Tai Kwun.

In the end, the Tai Kwun Cultural Centre has been a real success, an excellent example of how to make use of heritage buildings around Hong Kong in ways that are beneficial to the public and interesting for visitors to the city. You can easily spend several hours leisurely exploring the grounds and enjoying art exhibitions and performances here. Visit the Tai Kwun website or stop by the Visitor Centre upon arrival to determine how you prefer to spend your time while visiting.