Welcome to Haw Par Mansion

For our first photo shoot, there was only one place on our list: Haw Par Mansion. Built almost a century ago, Haw Par Mansion is one of the few surviving examples of Chinese Eclectic/Chinese Renaissance style architecture - or any heritage architecture for that matter - in Hong Kong. The original eight-acre plot on Tai Hang Road was developed by brothers Aw Boon Haw (AKA Tiger) and Aw Boon Par, and their combined names give the house its moniker, Haw plus Par. Born in Rangoon to a family originally from China’s Fujian Province, the brothers started their shared career by taking over their father's small medical herbal shop. They got to work on improving the shop's exisiting formulas, one of which eventually became the much-loved ache-relieving product Tiger Balm, still ubiquitous worldwide over a hundred years later. When the company's production expanded to Hong Kong, the brothers relocated and set about planning a family home for Haw. Though the adjoining Tiger Balm Gardens were demolished for redevelopment, the mansion remains as a Grade I Historical Site. Tours of the preserved estate are available through the Antiquities and Monuments Office. As you scroll the story below why we are so enamored with Haw Par Mansion.