Golden Bauhinia Square 金紫荆广场 – Hong Kong, China

        Every time I visited Hong Kong, I always grabbed the free travel guides provided at the immigration entrance. The book mentioned that one of the tourist attractions in Hong Kong is the Golden Bauhinia Square. Since I had not visited the site during my first visit there, I was determined to go there on my second visit. I asked my mom and boyfriend to go there. We asked for directions and took the MTR to Wan Chai station. We then walked across a bridge and kept walking for about 15 minutes until we reached there.

        Located next to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center across the Wan Chai Star Ferry Pier that operates ferries to Tsim Sha Tsui, the Golden Bauhinia Square or also known as the Expo Promenade is an open area that has become a popular tourist destination in Hong Kong. The golden sculpture has a shape of Hong Kong’s very own bauhinia flower or known as the Hong Kong orchid that becomes the national emblem of the HKSAR and can be found all over Hong Kong as well as on the Hong Kong flag and on the back of Hong Kong coins.

 

   

         The “Forever Blooming Bauhinia” sculpture is the national emblem of Hong Kong that commemorates the reunification or return of Hong Kong as a former British’ colony to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) after over 150 years of separation, and also marks the establishment of the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). On the night of 30 June 1997, a handover ceremony was held in the convention center that was attended by President Jiang Zemin, other dignitaries and Prince Charles as the British representative to witness the relinquishment of so-called “the richest jewel in the British crown”. The Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, Qian Qichen, and the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Tung Chee Hwa, also attended the handover ceremony on 1 July 1997. The sculpture was presented as a gift to the HKSAR by the Central Government of China. The name “Forever Blooming Bauhinia” bears the hope for Hong Kong’s forever-thriving future.

 

 

Standing on a red granite pedestal from Sichuan province with cylindrical shape in the upper part and pyramid shape in the lower part, the pedestal represents Chinese territory. The miniature of the Great Wall of China shaped on the pedestal symbolizes the magnificence of the Mainland China as the motherland of the HKSAR. The sculpture stands as high as 6 meters and is coated with gold and plated with gold foil. The characters carved on the pedestal are gilded.

 

  

There are two flags, the flag of People’s Republic of China and the HKSAR, standing sentinel in front of the Bauhinia Sculpture witnessing the reunification of the two regions. At exactly 8 am every first, eleventh and twenty-first day of each month, police officers dressed in uniforms hold a 10-15 minute flag raising ceremony. During the ceremony the Police Silver Band performs the national anthem, and after the ceremony, the Police Bagpipe Band plays other music for about ten minutes.

 

My boyfriend and I at the Golden Bauhinia Square

 

        Close to the Bauhinia Sculpture stands the Reunification Monument that has 20 meters height and consists of 206 overlapping stone tablets, each of them stands for a year between 1842 to 2047. Six of the tablets are made of lightly colored granite with round shape. They represent the six most important years in the history of Hong Kong. On the body of the monument, nine gilded Chinese characters are inscribed '香港回归祖国纪念碑', meaning “The monument of the return of Hong Kong to the Mainland China”, by the former President of the Central Government, Jiang Zemin. The rings on the top of the monument symbolize the return of Hong Kong to China. The white ring around the pinnacle symbolizes the sovereignty of Hong Kong while the other 50 smaller rings ascertain the unchanged capitalist system and way of life of Hong Kong for the next 50 years.

 

The reunification monument

        The Golden Bauhinia Sculpture has also become a popular spot for tourists to take pictures. Around the square there are many photographers who offer visitors to have their pictures taken with $HK 10 for each printed photo. However, you must be careful in choosing good photographer because not all of them are quite professional. If you are not satisfied with the pictures taken, do not hesitate to just cancel the transaction. When I was there, the place was not very crowded because it was weekday afternoon. However, if you visit it on weekends, you must be patient to take turn with other visitors to take pictures. Although the sculpture is only a commemoration symbol, but because it faces the Wan Chai waterfront, it gave me a tranquil feeling just by looking over the harbor and seeing people passing by. So, if you are a real traveler who are interested in Hong Kong history, you must visit this “Forever Blooming Bauhinia” golden sculpture.

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