The former Hong Kong mansion of Kung fu legend Bruce Lee will become a center for Chinese studies next year to offer courses on Mandarin and music.
The South China Morning Post cited the sole trustee of the charitable trust which owns it (that was founded by late billionaire philanthropist Yu Pang-lin), who said it would keep the external structure of the mansion at Kowloon Tong intact after a renovation.
Pang Chi-ping, also Yu’s grandson, said: "We will convert the mansion into a center for Chinese studies next year, which provides courses like Mandarin and Chinese music for children."
He said renovation work on the 5,699 sq ft property, which had recently fallen into disrepair, would start soon after the Lunar New Year and classes were expected to begin in September next year, the German News Agency reported.
Yu’s grandson said that about 400 children, from kindergarten to secondary school, will be trained at the center every year. The center may also offer classes on martial arts in the future. But Pang said the trust would not use Lee’s name on publicity for the renovated site because they did not possess the late kung fu legend’s image rights.
US-born Lee, who lived in Hong Kong as a child before returning to the US aged 18, taught martial arts and starred in many martial arts films. He spent his last years with his family in the Kowloon Tong mansion before his death on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32.
