{{Short description|House in the Guangdong Province of China}} '''Zhonghandi''' ({{zh|s=中翰第|p=Zhong1han4di4}}) is a house located at Dangxi Village, Gaopi Town, Dapu County, Meizhou City in Guangdong, China. It is the ancestral residence of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, although Lee himself has never visited the site during his life.<ref name="ET16">{{cite web |last1=Teo |first1=Esther |title=Lee Kuan Yew: The pride of a tiny village in China |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/lee-kuan-yew-the-pride-of-a-tiny-village-in-china |website=The Straits Times |access-date=3 November 2025 |language=en |date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423024712/https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/pride-tiny-village-china|archive-date=2022-04-23}}</ref>
It was designated as a protected cultural site at the county level on April 19, 2005 and was later included in the second batch of city-level protected cultural heritage sites in Meizhou on January 13, 2014.
== History == Zhonghandi is oriented from northwest to southeast and constructed with brick and wood. It covers a total area of 223 square meters.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gb.cri.cn/42071/2015/03/19/8031s4906817.htm |title=探访新加坡前总理李光耀祖居——中翰第 |access-date=2015-03-20 |archive-date=2015-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321002707/http://gb.cri.cn/42071/2015/03/19/8031s4906817.htm }}</ref> Zhonghandi, which belongs to the 'Descending Tiger' (Hokkien: hia⁶ suan¹ houn²) style of Hakka architecture, has eight rooms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-27 |title=访祖居看事迹．大埔唐溪村设李光耀展馆 |url=https://www.sinchew.com.my/20150327/%e8%ae%bf%e7%a5%96%e5%b1%85%e7%9c%8b%e4%ba%8b%e8%bf%b9%ef%bc%8e%e5%a4%a7%e5%9f%94%e5%94%90%e6%ba%aa%e6%9d%91%e8%ae%be%e6%9d%8e%e5%85%89%e8%80%80%e5%b1%95%e9%a6%86/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250608105621/https://www.sinchew.com.my/20150327/%E8%AE%BF%E7%A5%96%E5%B1%85%E7%9C%8B%E4%BA%8B%E8%BF%B9%EF%BC%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%9F%94%E5%94%90%E6%BA%AA%E6%9D%91%E8%AE%BE%E6%9D%8E%E5%85%89%E8%80%80%E5%B1%95%E9%A6%86/ |archive-date=2025-06-08 |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=星洲日报 Sin Chew Daily |language=zh}}</ref>
Lee Kuan Yew's great-grandfather, Lee Muk Man, emigrated during the time of the Qing dynasty to Singapore in 1864, then part of the British Straits Settlements, to seek a livelihood. He became a prominent businessman and returned to his hometown in 1884 (approximately the 10th year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign) to construct Zhonghandi.
In 2019, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore George Yeo, accompanied by his family, visited Zhonghandi and the Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Hall in Dangxi Village, Gaopo Town, during an ancestral worship ceremony in Wenli Village, Anbu Town.<ref>{{Cite web |author=张丽苹 |date=2019-12-31 |title=走入这个百年客家老屋 就会与已故建国总理李光耀不期而遇 给你好看 - 红蚂蚁 |url=https://www.redants.sg//good-reads/story20191231-3511 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719160353/https://www.redants.sg/good-reads/story20191231-3511 |archive-date=2024-07-19 |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=www.redants.sg 红蚂蚁 |language=zh}}</ref>
== Tourism == Between 2007 and 2008, the house and its surrounding area underwent refurbishment carried out by the local authorities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-03-26 |title=Mr Lee Kuan Yew's ancestral home to be turned into tourist spot |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mr-lee-kuan-yews-ancestral-home-to-be-turned-into-tourist-spot |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122164056/https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mr-lee-kuan-yews-ancestral-home-to-be-turned-into-tourist-spot |archive-date=2024-11-22 |access-date=2025-06-08 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>
In January 2014, the Dapu County government invested 40 million Renminbi to develop the Lee Kuan Yew Ancestral Residence Tourist Scenic Area. This included the construction of:
* Tourist shopping and leisure street * Wetland park * Entrance landscape zone * Resort villa district * Eco-farm leisure zone * Countryside sightseeing area * Scenic lake viewing area * Hakka ancient village exhibition area * Fruit orchard picking zone * Hilltop viewing platform
The project was listed as a "Key Construction Project of 2014" by Dapu County with the aim of developing it into an "International Rural Tourism Destination."<ref>{{Cite web|title=广东大埔斥资4000万元打造李光耀祖居旅游景区|url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/2014/01-07/5708553.shtml|access-date=2022-04-23|author=杨草原、唐林珍、丘佳纳|date=2014-01-07|publisher=中国新闻网|language=zh-cn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423024111/https://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/2014/01-07/5708553.shtml|archive-date=2022-04-23}}</ref>
=== Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Hall === The memorial hall contains four exhibition rooms that narrate Lee's life and the history of Singapore through images and text. A bronze statue depicting Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew shaking hands recreates the moment of Deng's first visit to Singapore in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web|title=广东大埔李光耀祖居景区开放|url=http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/china/20151010/961980.shtml|access-date=2022-04-22|author=蔡欣欣、丘佳纳|date=2015-10-10|publisher=中国新闻网|language=zh-cn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527190655/http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/china/20151010/961980.shtml|archive-date=2021-05-27}}</ref>
=== Visitors === Some travel agencies in Singapore offering tours to Chaozhou and Shantou include Zhonghandi as a stop on their itinerary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=走入这个百年客家老屋 就会与已故建国总理李光耀不期而遇|url=https://www.redants.sg/good-reads/story20191231-3511|access-date=2022-04-22|author=张丽苹|date=2019-12-31|publisher=红蚂蚁|language=zh-sg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227093333/https://www.redants.sg/good-reads/story20191231-3511|archive-date=2021-02-27}}</ref> As of March 2016, the site received approximately 20,000 visitors per month.<ref name="ET16"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Residential buildings completed in 1884