Rolly Wong Yu-cho is a third-generation collector of Chinese antiquities who dreams of making Hong Kong a cultural winner during the Olympics.
The 60-year-old businessman wants to adorn Hong Kong's Equestrian Olympic venues in August with life-sized stone sculptures of horses from his collection of 'about 60', which he says date from the Yuan (1279-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Sui (589-617) dynasties.
He says the collection in the garden of his New Territories home would help everyone 'to feel, enjoy and understand China's cultural heritage'. Documentation for many of the pieces has been 'destroyed or lost over so many years', says Wong. Nor has the collection been evaluated by Hong Kong's cultural authorities, so Wong hopes international experts will reveal more about his treasures which he says could put Hong Kong on the world cultural map, especially during the Games.
'Let all the Olympic riders have photos with individual stone horses and give them names,' he says. 'We'll support the riders by putting the horses in the field. We'll also show the world that Hong Kong is a Chinese cultural platform.'
Wong has already moved six 2-tonne horse statues to a path outside the Crown Wine Cellars in Shouson Hill, the former Central Ordnance Munitions Depot that recently received a Unesco cultural heritage award. This is a gesture of support for Crown Worldwide Group's commitment to preserving a historic site, he says.
For indoor display at the Equestrian Olympics, Wong wants to loan about 30 terracotta horses he says are from the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD), the like of which, he says, can be found only in Xian. These statues are just part of a collection that has stood on Wong's rambling 100,000 sq ft property in Tai Po for more than 60 years, largely unnoticed.