Government Building sights in China
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A
Central District Police Station
For years a rather dismal air of abandonment has hung over this declared but boarded-up monument, which is a former police station and jail. By the time you read this, it’s just possible that plans to repurpose and revamp the building as an art gallery, cinema, museum and boutique shopping mall will be taking physical shape. Defenders of Hong Kong’s heritage buildings are hopeful the redevelopment plans, due for completion in 2012, will ensure the site avoids the fate of many other such sites – too often they are bulldozed to make space for a modern high-rise or suffer heavily commercialised reinterpretations, such as that visited on the handsome former Marine Police HQ…
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B
British Consulate Building
Just to the southeast of Zhongshan Park as Wenming Lu intersects with Beijing Lu, stands the former British Consulate Building , within the grounds of the No 1 Middle School (一中; Yīzhōng). Dating from 1885, the imposing building is a lovely two-storey cream-coloured edifice with verandahs and shutters, flanked by palm trees. A further traditional building can be seen just to the rear, next to the newly built white-tile church.
Bus 2 from the train station stops right outside. Nearby Zhongshan Park is a pleasantly green park with several amusement rides for children.
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C
CCTV Building
The new headquarters for China Central TV is like no other building in the city, or anywhere else. This Dutch-designed behemoth, with its open centre, seemingly defies gravity. The cheeky locals call it ‘big shorts’, as it reminds them of a pair of trousers.
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D
Customs House
The magnificent Customs House dates from 1925, capped with a clock face and ‘Big Ching’, a bell substituted during the Cultural Revolution with loudspeakers broadcasting revolutionary songs.
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E
Bank of China Building
A glorious meld of Chinese and Western architectural styling, this 1937 building is a neat collusion of deco and Middle Kingdom motifs. Check out the funky modern-style Chinese lions out the front.
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The Mao Zedong Villa
The Mao Zedong Villa was one of the Chairman's boltholes and is a tourist fixture for Mao-ophiles.
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