Zhonghandi
Zhonghandi (Chinese: 中翰第) is located in Dangxi Village, Gaopo Town, Dapu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, China. It is the ancestral residence of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore.
It was designated as a protected cultural site at the county level on April 19, 2005, and was later included in the second batch of city-level protected cultural heritage sites in Meizhou on January 13, 2014.
History
Zhonghandi is oriented from northwest to southeast and constructed with brick and wood. It covers a total area of 223 square meters.[1]
Lee Kuan Yew’s great-grandfather, Lee Muk Man, went to Singapore in 1864 to seek a livelihood. He became a prominent businessman and returned to his hometown in 1884 (10th year of the Guangxu reign) to construct Zhonghandi.
Tourism
In January 2014, the Dapu County government invested 40 million Renminbi to develop the Lee Kuan Yew Ancestral Residence Tourist Scenic Area. This included the construction of:
- Tourist shopping and leisure street
- Wetland park
- Entrance landscape zone
- Resort villa district
- Eco-farm leisure zone
- Countryside sightseeing area
- Scenic lake viewing area
- Hakka ancient village exhibition area
- Fruit orchard picking zone
- Hilltop viewing platform
The project was listed as a "Key Construction Project of 2014" by Dapu County with the aim of developing it into an "International Rural Tourism Destination."[2]
Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Hall
The memorial hall contains four exhibition rooms that narrate Lee Kuan Yew’s life and the history of Singapore through images and text. A bronze statue depicting Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew shaking hands recreates the moment of Deng’s first visit to Singapore in 1978.[3]
Visitors
Some travel agencies in Singapore offering tours to Chaozhou and Shantou include Zhonghandi as a stop on their itinerary.[4] As of March 2016, the site received approximately 20,000 visitors per month.[5]
References
- ^ "探访新加坡前总理李光耀祖居——中翰第". Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
- ^ 杨草原、唐林珍、丘佳纳 (2014-01-07). "广东大埔斥资4000万元打造李光耀祖居旅游景区" (in Chinese (China)). 中国新闻网. Archived from the original on 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ 蔡欣欣、丘佳纳 (2015-10-10). "广东大埔李光耀祖居景区开放" (in Chinese (China)). 中国新闻网. Archived from the original on 2021-05-27. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ 张丽苹 (2019-12-31). "走入这个百年客家老屋 就会与已故建国总理李光耀不期而遇" (in Chinese (Singapore)). 红蚂蚁. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ ESTHER TEO (2016-03-23). "The pride of a tiny village in China". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-23.