This photo is shooting a reflective window in a heritage pavilion in a garden on a sunny day. The upper part of the window is highly reflective while the lower part of the window is refracted into the pavilion.
This magical combination makes a gateway between the virtual and reality. It’s also a tunnel between the past and the present. The upper part of the photo is reflected the virtual world, but this virtual world is the reality nowadays — Everywhere is modern and tall buildings.
While the root is our history (the lower part of the photo) —- the actual environment of the heritage pavilion that I visited.
Background of Haw Par Mansion
Haw Par Mansion with its private garden, preserved and passed to Hong Kong Government in 2001, was accorded Grade 1 historic building status in 2009.
In 1926, the Aw brothers established a Tiger Balm factory in Singapore and, by 1932, they had build Tiger Balm factories in other cities, with Hong Kong becoming the second largest production facility.
In 1936, Haw Par Mansion was built for Aw Boon Haw’s family. As the iconic home of one of the wealthiest men in Southeast Asia in the 1930s, Haw Par Mansion is undoubtedly a significant heritage. The unique architectural design, the Chinese Eclectic architectural style by integrating both Western and Chinese features, particularly in the spatial configuration, exquisite architectural elements and finishes used, carries strong architectural values.
Magic Moments 