Kilns are "ovens" used for firing ceramics, and dragon kilns were invented in the Ming dynasty before becoming prevalent in Shiwan and other parts of Southern China. Built in the 1940s, the Castle Peak Dragon Kiln in Tuen Mun is the city’s only complete and intact dragon kiln. This remarkable 20‑metre kiln once produced a wide range of household ceramics—from wine jars and drainage pipes to traditional soup pots and fine ceramic sculptures—until the 1980s.
Thanks to the strong advocacy of Dr. Solomon Bard, the first Executive Secretary of the Antiquities & Monuments Office, and visits by Lady Pamela Youde, the kiln was eventually preserved and, in 2014, listed as a Grade III historic building. The long-term vision for the Dragon Kiln is to establish it as a working museum and ceramic community centre. This effort is led by Mr Leung Pak Chuen—the son of the kiln’s former foreman, who continues to reside on site—and the Hong Kong Dragon Kiln Concern Group, formed in 2016.
Participants will also visit the three new ceramic public artworks in the adjacent housing development, created as tributes to the kiln's legacy.
More about Castle Peak Dragon Kiln:
https://www.hkdragonkiln.org
The Speaker
Prof. Simon HSU, an architect and potter, has more than twenty years of professional experience working on a range of complex and high-profile projects. He started the first twelve years of his career at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in New York, where he worked on numerous institutional and commercial projects, such as the Musee d’Art Moderne of Luxembourg and the Headquarter of the Lombardy Regional Government in Milan.
He co-founded io Architects in 2006, which was responsible for the design of the Miho School of Aesthetics, a high school campus outside of Kyoto. He collaborated with I.M. Pei on its school chapel. Upon his return to Hong Kong in 2013, he worked at Aedas as well as Herzog & de Meuron. He received his master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University and his bachelor’s degree from Brown University. He is a LEED AP, a member of the American Institute of Architects and a registered Architect in New York.
More about Simon:
https://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/people/faculty-members/prof-hsu-chung-wan-simon
PROGRAMME
Speaker / Guide: Simon HSU, AIA, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Architecture, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 noon (Meet Up time and place will follow)
Admission: $150 for members, $200 for guests/non-members
Registration: Please email <membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk> and provide your membership number, if applicable, and also read and sign the “Terms & Conditions” at the time of registration.
*Terms and Conditions can be read and downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H3OO2SjTu84wZ8-Beo0ym5LiBKGSdhEc/view?usp=sharing
Please kindly complete your registration by advance payment via Stripe's payment links below (using your Credit Card):
Members ($150):
https://buy.stripe.com/aFa14o7Bq4083yH6NX5EY37
Non-member / Guest ($200):
https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gA2h62W46KTdcl5EY38
* Registrants also have to sign up the “Terms & Conditions” required by the Hong Kong Dragon Kiln Concern Group for completing the registration.
Details about the other payment option will be sent on registration. Upon receipt of payment, your registration will be confirmed by email. Registration will be closed at 12 noon on 23 April 2026.