Hong Kong Today 今日香港
Chi Lin's heritage application slammed: lacking coordination, messing up
志蓮申遺被轟協調不足自亂陣腳
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Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden, with assistance from the Hong Kong government, were accepted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) into the preparatory list for application to the United Nations to become a world cultural heritage site. The SAR's Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) was kept in the dark beforehand and its members on Monday slammed the government at a meeting for its black-box operation  and raised doubts over the heritage value of the building group.
The Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill was rebuilt in Tang dynasty  architectural style. Though it won the SAR's architectural award, most Hong Kong people will not have dreamt about it having a chance for inclusion in the shortlist of the nation's 45 sites for world cultural heritage application by beating thousands of ancient Chinese buildings. The reason is that people think it is very new. The rebuilt nunnery was dedicated at the address in 1998 while the garden across the street was completed only in 2006, just six years old today.
In the Central Star Ferry Pier incident that awakened Hong Kong people's strong sense of conservation, one of the reasons for the government's decision to have it demolished was that it was only 48 years old then. It did not meet the statutory historical site threshold of being 50 years old. Chi Lin has a brief history, holding not as rich collective memory of Hong Kong people as the Star Ferry Pier. If it had been vetted by the AAB, it might not have been listed even as a grade three historic monument, but it suddenly emerged as a national cultural heritage, which the board members found outrageous.
Model in ancient style unexpectedly emerging
The nation updated the China's World Heritage Tentative List made six years ago with some of its 35 items being removed and 23 new items added. There are altogether 45 items on the new list, Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden being among them. SACH experts came to Hong Kong in June for inspection. The nation will choose one item on the list to apply to the United Nations as a world cultural heritage site. The result this time revealed that its rating criteria were different from those of the SAR's AAB.
On the day the list was announced, the SAR government did not explain the reason for its assistance to the nunnery and the value of the building group, but mainland and Hong Kong media quoted the analysis of various experts, pointing out that the breakthrough in the new list, including the first-time appearance of modern architecture, was in response to the major international trend. It symbolised the Chinese view of history no longer rigidly adhering to "antiques and historical sites".
Architecture in ancient style has been popular in recent years, many shoddily built to attract tourists. The nunnery and garden that cost over $700 million were said to have been built based on historical documents, with its exterior completely in ancient style. The nunnery was constructed using solely mortises and without using even one metal nail. The inside, however, contained steel structures - a blend of modern and ancient architectural technology. Whether it can become the model of architecture in ancient style remains to be tested.
Government should clear Hong Kong people's doubts
The United Nations' concept in the rating of world heritage has been changing in recent years, giving priority to the rarities. Experts say there must be "innovation" in the description of value when applying for world cultural heritage status. Chi Lin is indeed a surprise.
As a country can only propose one place for world cultural heritage application each year, Chi Lin will still have to go through mainland experts and those of the United Nations. Whether it will come out on top is still unknown. The sedimentary rocks in northeast New Territories and volcanic rocks in east Sai Kung became world geoparks last year. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau worked successfully together to make Cantonese opera become an intangible cultural heritage in 2009. As for cultural heritage, Macau's old town centre and the watchtowers of Kaiping got listed in 2004 and 2007 respectively. If Chi Lin gets listed, it can fill Hong Kong's gap in this aspect.
When the Sydney Opera House was listed as a world cultural heritage in 2007, it was only 34 years old. The Australians took pride in possessing the "youngest" world cultural heritage, but differences arose within Hong Kong as Chi Lin was put on the preparatory list which may affect the final result. If the government wants to have the sympathy of Hong Kong people, it has to clearly explain its heritage value and the reasons behind approving the listing. In future it has to increase the transparency in assisting heritage rating applications.
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