For promoting the history of Macao’s pawnshop business, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will be freely open to the public from 1st January 2016, for encouraging the public to understand more about Macao’s history and culture. Residents and tourists are welcome to visit.

The venue of the exhibition was formerly Tak Seng On Pawnshop (The Virtue and Success Pawnshop), which was established and co-funded by Macao magnates, Kou Ho Neng and Wong Hung Shan, in 1917. The premise, Tak Seng On, was closed in 1993 and was vacant for many years since the decline of the traditional pawnshop business. In order to preserve the cultural heritage of Macao, the Cultural Affairs Bureau undertook the restoration of Tak Seng On in 2000, whereby its old exterior architectural design of the pawnshop, internal decorations as well as devices and procedures for pawnbroker’s business records were reinstated in accordance with the basic layout of the early period of the Republic of China. The Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business was unveiled and open to the public on 21st March 2003. It has become the first industrial museum jointly operated by the government and a private entity. It is now managed by the Cultural Affairs Bureau.

The heritage exhibition comprises two blocks. The front block is a three-storey pawnshop and bank, while the rear block is a seven-storey storehouse. The ground floor of the pawnshop and partial floors of the storehouse are already open to the public. There is a large screen placed at the entrance of the pawnshop, while behind of it are a high counter and a secure cage.

Pawn goods are placed in the storehouse, which is built like a fortress. The foundation of the wall is made of granite, with a steel plate placed in the middle, the gray brick wall is extremely thick. Besides, there are iron-barred windows on the four sides of each floor in the storehouse. In order to safeguard the pawn goods, the architecture features typical characteristics of a pawnshop such as solid structure of the architecture, both of its interior and exterior design with fireproof, waterproof, security and anti-bandit functions.

Visitors can review the past operation and procedures of the pawnbroker business through the exhibits in the venue. Tak Seng On Pawnshop received an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO 2004 Asia-Pacific Awards for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, and it was also selected as an Urban Best Practices Area by the Shanghai World Expo 2010. This becomes one of the buildings to be preserved after the World Expo.

The Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business is located at No. 396 Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. It opens from 10:30am to 7pm and closes on the first Monday of each month. For enquiries, please call 2835 7911 during office hours, or visit www.macaumuseum.gov.mo or www.icm.gov.mo.