Hefei’s Trendy Architecture Trail Gains Hong Kong Attention
AM730 · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hefei is emerging as an alternative destination for Hong Kong visitors, helped by the launch in January of direct high-speed rail access to Hefei South Station and by growing interest in visually distinctive urban attractions . A featured architecture-focused itinerary spotlights three major check-in locations that show different sides of the city: reused industrial heritage at Hechai 1972, grain-storage infrastructure reborn as an arts park at New Granary Kuku Park, and the modern landmark Anhui Broadcasting and Television Center beside Swan Lake .
Key Points
- Hechai 1972 in Baohe District occupies the former Hefei Diesel Engine Factory, opened in 1972, and later served as Hefei Prison from 1996 to 2018 .
- The creative park opened in 2019 with red-brick bunkers, domed workshops, chimneys, museums, cafés and free admission, drawing comparisons with Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun .
- New Granary Kuku Park on Wangjiang West Road was formerly Anhui’s mechanized grain depot, founded in 1993, with 10 giant silos and 21 warehouses storing 100,000 tonnes .
- The depot was renewed in 2023 into a mixed-use arts and leisure zone, retaining a 1,200-metre double-track railway and retired locomotives for heritage display .
- Anhui Broadcasting and Television Center on Longtu Road is nicknamed the “Book of Heaven Building”; its facade uses scattered seal-script place names and spans 816 metres east to west .
Why It Matters
The route reflects a broader tourism shift in which transport links, industrial regeneration and image-driven travel are reshaping how second-tier mainland cities market themselves to Hong Kong visitors . It also shows how Hefei is leveraging free-entry public spaces, adaptive reuse and waterfront cityscapes to build a more contemporary identity beyond its better-known historical associations .