Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre, Cultural center in downtown Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre is a building on the north-eastern side of downtown Calgary, completed in September 1992. Its centrepiece, the Dr. Henry Fok Cultural Hall, is modelled on the Hall of Prayers of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The hall's 70-foot ceiling is decorated with 561 dragons and 40 phoenixes and supported by four gold-ornamented columns representing the seasons. The dome's outer surface is covered in blue tiles imported from China and made by the same company that supplied the Temple of Heaven during the Ming Dynasty.
In 1982, as redevelopment pressure grew, the City of Calgary and Chinatown residents drafted a plan to keep the neighbourhood from being dominated by skyscrapers. An initial proposal would have cut Chinatown's area by 40 percent; the community and city planners instead agreed on a plan that included building a large cultural centre. The centre was completed and inaugurated in September 1992.
The centre's name is rendered in Chinese as 卡城中華文化中心. Throughout the year it marks Chinese holidays with performances, including traditional lion dances and Chinese opera. The Chinese Artifacts Museum on the lower level traces Chinese immigration to Canada and the history of Calgary's Chinese community, alongside replicas of Terracotta warriors, mahogany furniture, ceramics, sculpture, clothing and bronzes.
The complex sits on the north-eastern edge of downtown Calgary, in Chinatown. The Dr. Henry Fok Cultural Hall, the Henry G.D. Chow auditorium and a traditional Chinese medicine facility are on the main level; classrooms and the Orrin and Clara Christie Might Library are on the second; the restaurant and the Chinese Artifacts Museum are on the lower level.
The dome's exterior blue tiles come from the same supplier that provided materials for Beijing's Temple of Heaven during the Ming Dynasty. This historical connection gives the modern building an unexpected link to one of China's most famous religious sites.
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