The restoration project of a centuries-old ancestral-hall in Hong Kong has won an Award of Merit in the United Nations' Conservation competition for 2001, Hong Kong's Leisure and Cultural Services Department said Friday.

This government funded project won the prize for successfully reverting the ancestral hall to its original style of architecture of the Qing Dynasty, while integrating some of the modern elements from the 1930s, Tong Ma Kai-loong, assistant director of LCSD, said at a press conference.

Situated at Tai Po Tau Tsuen, the New Territory, the King Law Ka Shuk is an ancestral hall and study hall of the Tang clan in Tai Po Tau. The building was once the study hall to more than 40 youngsters of the Tang clan.

The traditional three-hall two-courtyard building was said to be built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to commemorate the tenth generation ancestor Tang King-law who was respected as the first generation of Lau Kwong Tong of the Tang clan in Tai Po Tau.

To restore the building's ancient look, a rehabilitation work was launched by the government at the end of 1998 and completed in January 2001. The budget of the restoration project is 5 million HK dollars (US$640,000).

The award-winning of the restoration project "reflects the fact that the sense of commitment in heritage preservation is continuously raising among different sectors of community in Hong Kong," said Tong.

It is the second time for Hong Kong to win the United States Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization award for heritage protection, following its winning of the same kind of awards last year with the restoration project of Hung Shing Old Temple and the conservation project of Ohel Leah Synagogue.

(People's Daily 10/06/2001)