Hongkongers of a certain age might remember the Haw Par Mansion and its adjoining Tiger Balm Garden, a green space built in the mid-1930s by a wealthy Chinese-Burmese family that was later open to the public as an amusement park. The grounds were filled with sculptures and dioramas of scenes and characters from Chinese mythology, but the pièce de résistance for many was its gory depictions of the levels of hell.
Those who have experienced it will remember seeing artwork of grimacing sinners being fried in vats of boiling oil, climbing a mountain of blades, being tied to red-hot pillars, having their tongues ripped out, and more. The Tiger Balm Garden was eventually demolished in 2004, but now, a whole new generation of Hongkongers also gets to go through this traumatic lesson on karma!
The Haw Par Mansion guided tour is launching a brand-new exhibition titled ‘Virtual Reality: The ‘Ten Courts of Hell’ of Tiger Balm Garden’, which reconstructs the former fiery exhibit using a VR metaverse platform. Through VR headsets, visitors can explore the details of the old murals, as well as interact with them to learn about the cultural and historical contexts behind the Buddhist concept of hell. There will also be displays and video works to accompany this new exhibition.
Interested visitors can sign up to join the guided tours of the Haw Par Mansion for free, held four times each day from Fridays to Sundays. This includes being brought through the private garden and the mansion’s interiors, with highlights on its history and architectural features, before moving on to the Ten Courts of Hell experience. Find out more and enrol for the tours on the Antiquities and Monuments Office website.
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