AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Tucked into a lane of Lao Xu Cun in the Buji old-street area of Longgang, the Ling Daoyang Former Residence (凌道扬故居) is a small museum inside a hundred-year-old Hakka house. It honours Ling Daoyang (1888–1993), a native son of Buji who became one of the founding fathers of modern Chinese forestry—and, on the other side of his career, one of the architects of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.↗↗↗
What makes this quiet site worth a stop is the contrast it holds. A modest two-storey brick-and-timber dwelling, raised by Ling's grandfather in 1902, was the childhood home of a man who helped invent China's Arbor Day, wrote into its first forest law and co-founded a world-class university. Today the restored house, a Longgang District immovable cultural relic, lays out his remarkable life—his family roots, years studying abroad and lifelong work for forests and education—through illustrated exhibition walls and artefacts.↗↗
The man behind the house
Born on 8 December 1888 in the Buji area of old Xin'an County, Ling Daoyang rose to become one of the most consequential environmental and educational figures of modern China. After earning a master's degree in forestry at Yale University in 1914, he returned home and devoted his life to greening and conserving the country's woodlands.↗↗
His résumé of 'firsts' is striking: he initiated and founded the Chinese Forestry Association (中华森林会)—the forerunner of today's Chinese Society of Forestry—and served as its first chairman; he helped launch China's first forestry journal, *Forest*; he took part in establishing the first forestry department at a Chinese university; he advocated the creation of China's first Arbor Day; and he contributed to drafting the country's first Forest Law. As an educator he was a co-founder of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, serving as second president of Chung Chi College (1955–1960) and head of United College (1960–1963).↗↗↗
Local organisers like to sum him up in a line borrowed from his own creed: to educate is to plant trees. The whole museum is shaped around that idea of a single village family branching out into forestry, conservation and university-building across the Chinese-speaking world.
A Hakka house turned museum
The residence itself is a textbook example of a traditional Hakka dwelling: a two-storey brick-and-timber structure with plain grey-brick exterior walls, commissioned in 1902 by Ling's grandfather, Ling Qilian. The Buji sub-district carried out a careful 'repair it as it was' restoration, preserving the building's original character while opening up several hundred square metres inside as exhibition halls.↗↗
Since 2017 the house has functioned as a small exhibition hall, and in October 2019 it began regular public openings. Inside, illustrated panels and collected relics trace Ling's story in sequence—from his birth family and the scholar-patriarch values of the Buji Ling clan, to his studies overseas, and his return to serve Chinese forestry and education. It is the kind of compact, walk-through museum where a guided visit, rather than a sprawling collection, carries the experience.↗↗↗
The heritage setting around you
The residence does not stand alone. Directly across the way is the Christian Buji Church, and a short stroll away is the Ling Clan Ancestral Hall. The neighbourhood still preserves five Hakka watchtowers (炮楼) from past centuries, each also registered as a Longgang immovable cultural relic—so the house anchors a small cluster of heritage buildings that tell the layered story of the Buji Hakka community.↗↗
The site is part of a broader plan to knit the house into the regeneration of Buji Old Street as a 'humanities plus tourism' destination, doubling as a memorial hall, a family-values education base and a CUHK heritage site, all while protecting the surrounding cluster of Hakka architecture.↗↗
For students and families
The museum pitches itself squarely at school groups and families: on opening days local students and curious residents queue in to learn about 'the famous son from their own doorstep.' The biography-first layout, the green-forestry theme and the on-site docents make it an easy, meaningful outing for children, and it is flagged as suitable for kids.↗↗
The connection does not stop at the house, either. To mark Ling's 130th birthday, a 2,400-square-metre memorial forest and a bronze statue were created at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), giving visitors an easy way to extend a Buji visit into a wider 'follow Ling Daoyang' trail across Longgang.↗↗
What makes it special
A preserved 1902 Hakka house that is the childhood home of Ling Daoyang, a Yale-trained forester and co-founder of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.↗↗
Honours a man credited with launching China's Arbor Day, its first forestry society and its first Forest Law.↗↗
Restored 'as it was' and listed as a Longgang immovable cultural relic, now a compact illustrated museum of his life.↗
A little planning goes a long way
- Plan around the limited schedule: the residence opened to the public on a regular basis in October 2019 for two days a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9:00–17:00. Confirm current hours before you travel, as they may have changed since that reporting.↗
- Arrive for a guided visit. Docents are stationed on the opening days, and a walkthrough is far more rewarding than trying to read the Chinese exhibition panels on your own.↗↗
- Set aside a leisurely hour or two to combine the house with a walk around Buji Old Street—picking up the Christian Buji Church opposite, the nearby Ling Clan Ancestral Hall and the surviving Hakka watchtowers for a fuller picture of the village.↗↗
- Pair the trip with CUHK-Shenzhen in Longgang, where a memorial forest and statue dedicated to Ling Daoyang extend the story beyond the old house.↗
About this guide
Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below; this is not a first-hand visit. Place details collected October 5, 2026. Hours, access and ratings can change; confirm with the venue before visiting.
