Many Singaporeans would remember the Tang Dynasty City, one of Singapore’s prominent landmarks of the nineties. Located next to Jurong Lake, the huge 12-hectare theme park was modelled after the ancient Tang Dynasty’s capital city of Chang An, the city of eternal peace. Despite its fame and hype, it was a short-lived and expensive project that lasted only seven years between 1992 and 1999.

The idea of this project was first mooted in 1988. Strongly backed by the government, particularly from the Economic Development Board (EDB), Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) and Ministry of Community Development, it was hoped that the theme park would become a major tourist attraction as well as a big contribution to Singapore’s movie industry.

In May 1988, the project tender was successfully awarded to Hong Kong’s Asia TV Holdings Pte Ltd. It would form a joint venture with Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), called Tang Dynasty Village Singapore Pte Ltd, to manage the park. This was SBC’s first joint venture with another corporation. The Hong Kong-based Far East Holdings International, owner of Asia TV, was the major stakeholder in the project. A 30-year lease was granted by JTC to the joint venture, with an option to extend for another 20 years.

In late 1988, the project was almost halted due to the arrest of Deacon Chiu (1924-2015), owner of Asia TV and main developer of Tang Dynasty Village. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) had charged him for falsification of bank records.

The project managed to continue despite Deacon Chiu’s high profile case. In February 1989, a groundbreaking ceremony for Tang Dynasty Village was held opposite of Yaohan Jurong, near the junction of Yuan Ching Road and Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim. The groundbreaking was led by Philip Yeo, chairman of the EDB.

Tang Dynasty Village took reference from Hong Kong’s Sung Dynasty Village, which was built in 1979 as a recreation of a typical Song Dynasty (960-1279) community. Sung Dynasty Village was also developed by Deacon Chiu.

In its own style, Tang Dynasty Village featured many buildings in Tang architectural designs. There were also small-scaled replicas of the Daming Palace (大明宮, an ancient palace built by Emperor Tang Taizong), Huaching Pool (华清池, hot springs where Yang Guifei took her baths) and Small Wild Goose Pagoda (小雁塔), prominent historical landmarks that were built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Besides the various Chinese-style buildings and landscaping, the park also housed three television and movie studios, retails shops and a restaurant.

The operator of Tang Dynasty Village had hoped that the theme park would attract as many as 900,000 visitors annually, whose gate receipts ($10 for entry and $25 for a guided tour) could make up more than half of the expected revenue, and the remaining from the sale of souvenirs, food and beverage. It was forecasted that Tang Dynasty Village would become profitable by its third to fifth year.

The local media was in a frenzy that Singapore would soon have its own Hollywood, or become Asia’s movie-making centre. Several Hong Kong movie companies considered relocating to Singapore in preparation for Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. There were even news of Italy’s Cecchi Gori Group, Europe’s largest movie producer, wanting to set up a $120-million studio complex at Jurong. A group of US film producers was reported to have visited Singapore to assess the country’s movie-making potential.

In 1990, Singapore’s largest department store chain Metro won the bid to run the retail stores at Tang Dynasty Village on a five-year deal. Deacon Chiu also ambitiously wanted to build hotels beside the theme park. By the time of its completion in 1991, the total development cost of Tang Dynasty Village rose from an initial $50 million budget to $70 million.

The 1990-91 Gulf War, however, led to the spike of oil prices, slowing down the global economy. In a rapid turn of events, Cecchi Gori Group pulled out of their interest in Singapore and even Metro reduced their retail presence in Tang Dynasty Village due to the declining number of tourists.

Tang Dynasty Village had a grand opening on 12 January 1992. Although only 40% of the park’s amenities were opened to the public, its opening day still attracted 5,000 visitors. Shortly after its opening, Tang Dynasty Village was renamed Tang Dynasty City to reflect its size and vibrancy. Performing troupes from China were hired and replicas of the terracotta army were exhibited as parts of the park’s attractions.

Numerous movies and dramas were shot at Tang Dynasty City. Legend of the Beauty (一代天骄), a SBC period drama, had used the park for filming in 1991, before its official opening. Hong Kong’s All’s Well Ends Well Too (花田喜事), the 1993 Lunar New Year blockbuster featuring Leslie Cheung, Rosamund Kwan and Samuel Hui, was the first movie to be shot there.

In June 1994, Tang Dynasty City saw a record 50,000 visitorship in a single day as NTUC Income subsidised the ticket prices for its staff and policyholders. The offer was to celebrate its annual family day as well as the International Year of the Family.

But by the mid-nineties, Tang Dynasty City and Singapore’s other theme parks were struggling due to falling visitorship. In order to turn things around, Tang Dynasty City invested $7 million in overseas marketing and adding of more attractive features and entertainments within the park. It also planned to build a 250-room Chinese-style hotel and convention hall.

But things were not looking good for Tang Dynasty City. It had been making losses since its opening. Its annual visitorship had fallen from 700,000 in 1994 to 400,000 in 1995. In 1996, Admiralty Investment Holdings acquired a 65% stake in Tang Dynasty City, where it planned to pump millions to rejuvenate the park. Unfortunately, the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis plunged its finances even deeper into the red.

The final straw came in August 1999, when Admiralty Leisure, Admiralty Investment’s subsidiary and owner of Tang Dynasty City, put itself under judicial management due to the mounting debts of almost $62 million. As it could no longer meet operating expenses, the theme park was shut down on 22 September 1999.

Without any new owner or investment, the High Court granted permission to Singapore Leisure Industries, under JTC, to repossess the Tang Dynasty City site in August 2000. The park’s equipment, relics and replicas of the warriors, horses and chariots, valued in millions, were put on sale in October 2000.

In 2001, Punggol Marina Club was keen to buy over and revive Tang Dynasty City, but its bid was rejected by Singapore Leisure Industries. In 2007, there were talks of converting the long abandoned theme park into a Shaolin-theme resort. This too did not work out, and the park was eventually bulldozed by 2009.

The site of the former Tang Dynasty City remains vacant till this day.

Published: 26 July 2023