China landmarks in Lego: Great Wall, Forbidden City, terracotta warriors and more on display in Beijing

The exhibition of miniature Chinese landmarks at a Beijing shopping mall will run until mid-October

The models’ chief designer, a Lego Certified Professional, says there are 18 new designs on show that took half a year to assemble

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Traditional Fujian earth roundhouses, or tulou, made with thousands of plastic Lego blocks – some of the many miniature Chinese landmarks on display at the Indigo shopping mall in Beijing. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 3:00pm, 3 Sep 2019Updated: 8:04pm, 3 Sep 2019

At the Indigo shopping mall in Beijing, visitors marvel at colourful miniatures of Chinese landmarks made of thousands of plastic Lego blocks.

From the Forbidden City to the Great Wall of China to the terracotta warriors, the works were created by China’s first Lego Certified Professional (LCP), Andy Hung Chi-kin, and his team, for the “Dynasty of Brick – Lego Chinese Culture Exhibition”.

“We want to showcase Chinese culture through the exhibition,” says Hung, chief designer of the touring show, which will run in Beijing until mid-October.

“While some works have shown before in other exhibitions, there are 18 new designs including Beijing courtyard houses, Fujian tulou or earth roundhouses, and the Tangyue Memorial Archway in Anhui province. Besides architecture, we have also made other Chinese cultural symbols like Peking opera masks and lion dance props. It took half a year for my team to assemble the new works.”

Andy Hung at the exhibition in Beijing next to a Lego model of Wuhan’s Yellow Crane Tower.

Hong Kong-born Hung, 39, is one of 14 LCPs around the world, including another from mainland China and one from Taiwan. His company, Legend Creative, has more than 10 full-time staff.