Roof tiles of both Eastern and Western countries served the purpose of protecting inhabitants from weather hazards and from uninvited intruders. Traditional roof tiling in pacific culture in general, particular in China, is also a sign of social status of its user. Roof tiles play an important role in many of the Chinese myths and fung-shui (symbolic superstition).
Ching dynasty (1644-1911) had the biggest influence on the form and shape of Chinese ceramic roof tiles and even today with all the modern technology, the original design of the tiles have preserved the style of the Ching Dynasty of Northern China. In the Ching dynasty tiles of golden yellow glazing were restricted only for the imperial court and for the few monasteries and temples appointed by the Emperor.
Today the use of yellow glazed tiles in a building still represents the desire for greatness and supremacy of its proud owner.
Traditional tiles contain numerous decorative creatures and each and every design bears a meaningful story of political, cultural and religious essence.
Those huge Bas-Reliefs made of glazed clay were custom made for the Pacific Heritage Town. They are in the class of the best ever made dragon pictures. It took a total of 5 clay architects four full months of work to design the Bas-Reliefs until they have achieved this high level of quality and precision.
On the left side is the dragon in a style typical to the northern part of China. Its characteristics include a jumpy look, claws that stretch out, and the background of mountains, sky and water with a spirit that will conquer the world. The picture on the right side shows some reserved and conservative dragon as well as background figures. The images portray the personality of the people from the southern part of China.
There are 14 different colors in the Pacific Mall Heritage Bas-Reliefs superceding the famous and colourful one in the "Northsea Garden" in Beijing.
There are a maximum of nine animals lined up in a special sequence with the Saint in the front and the rest of the animals behind him to guard him under his authority. People lined these animal figures on their roof (the bigger the roof top, the more animals installed) to protect their building, preventing it from being attacked by devils.
The dragon fish represents the God of the Seas. Traditionally Chinese buildings were made of wood. The presence of the God of the Seas on the roof protected them from the devil of fire.
These dragon heads resting on the top of the grand entrance to the Pacific Heritage Town are original replicas of those in the Forbidden City in Beijing. These dragon heads are symbolic of the Emperor of the Ching dynasty, and were only used in the palace.
The lion represented fortune. When the lion is dancing, all bad luck disappears. Therefore, a dancing lion is commonly found in the Chinese tradition. People believe that fortune will be restored upon them and all devils or misfortunes will be "danced" away.
This is another style of lion representing fortune. This lion is bending on its knees and thus named accordingly - the crouching lion.
These original rose wood hand carved fine art of dragons are fencing the food court area and the stage wall.
Emperor's Chair, also known as "Lung Yi" is from Ching dynasty (1644-1911). This chair is intended for the Emperor, all Emperors in the same dynasty sat on the same chair. Emperor's Chair is also known as the "Chair of the Dragon". Dragons represented as power, dignity and capability. Usage of Dragon figures were only confined to the nobles.
Stones represent living things, the Saints are live in the stone. The stones assembled beside the bridge at the main entrance are originally imported from China and are assembled by a Japanese artist who specializes in stone landscaping. The different shapes of the stones have different meanings. Likewise, water under the bridge with golden fish means fortune and good luck in the Chinese tradition.
Dragon and Phoenix were often mentioned in pairs. While dragons represented power, dignity and capability. Phoenix symbolized auspicious, happiness, well-being, love and care. The dragon represented the King; the phoenix represented the Queen. Phoenix was also closely associated with power of the emperor. The Queens wore crowns with the Phoenix design. The greater the number of phoenix used, the higher their sovereignty would be. The Dragon/Phoenix presented on the stage are original hand carved on rose wood fine art. The Dragon is always on the right side and always higher than the Phoenix.
Lanterns had been introduced almost 1000 years ago. At the very beginning, lanterns were restricted to be used only in the palace; but later, lanterns became commonly used in the heritage decorations. There are 300 lanterns in the Pacific Heritage Town. Each has six dragon heads with 12 hand painted class covers.
Two dragons are playing with the pearl. The pearl in this shape is a symbol of happiness which is used widely in heritage decorations. The "Hay" presented in the bridge entrance is an original hand carved on rose wood piece of fine art.