Forbidden Gardens terracotta warriors on sale! (Houston, Temple: real estate, closing, live)

[behtypa]

As you all know by now, the Forbidden Gardens is closing. :-( I have just been there and bough a 1/3 size terracotta warrior for my backyard. I saw a man hauling 2 full-size horses, another - a small wooden palace model and some figurines...

They will have a sale this weekend. Here is what they will be selling:

- some 1/3 size terracotta (orange) warriors and horses - around $100 a piece
- some 1/3 size fibeglass (black) warriors and horses - around $25 a piece
- some full-size horses and figures
- small souvenirs, Chinese national clothes, etc.
- some planters, concrete garbage bins, etc.
- all trees, shubs and (running, not clumping) bamboo
- other

This if your last chance, guys. The Gardens are closing. You can have your own piece of history here in your backyard. A terracotta warrior near your shrubs or some figurine in the lot corner.

Come today or tomorrow during business hours and be there first. Or come over the weekend during the regular sale days and take what is left.

If you are coming today (Thu) or Friday, use their back gate. It is on the left from the parking lot. Ask Liz - she is in charge of sales.

Whatever is left and unsold can end up in a garbage collector. So they will be happy to any offers.

P.S. I have no affiliation to them, just a big fan. Help them and help yourself to get some great terracotta warrior figures for your yard.

[AmberAzeneth]

Is it closing because of the Grand Parkway extension or is it due to lack of patronage?

[behtypa]

Originally Posted by AmberAzeneth

Is it closing because of the Grand Parkway extension or is it due to lack of patronage?

because of pkwy

[AmberAzeneth]

Originally Posted by behtypa

because of pkwy

Why can't they just relocate out there? There istill plenty of undeveloped prairie available. Or the question should be, "Why did they build in the Grand Parkway ROW(Right of Way) to begin with?" Everyone has known about the basic route of the Grand Parkway for about 20 years now.

[elnina]

^^^You are right ! Looks like a poor planning...
Forbidden Gardens was built in 1997 at the pleasure of Ira P. H. ****, AKA "Mr. ****," a Hong Kong real estate mogul who wanted people of Asian descent (including his teenage children) to know something of Asian culture besides firecrackers and kung-fu. Mr. **** lives in Seattle, but preferred constructing the sprawling exhibit somewhere outdoors, open year-round, on flat, cheap land, where there was a large Asian population. Houston, 25 miles east of Forbidden Gardens, has the third highest in the nation.
The attraction, built for an estimated $20 million, covers 40 acres and 2,000 years of Chinese history. It is a curious, impressive, motionless place on the Texas flatlands, with its tranquil courtyard, shaded arcades, koi fish pond, the smell of incense in the thick air and the sounds of Chinese zither plucking from hidden speakers.
Behind the courtyard are 40,000 square feet of tiny model palaces and people: scale models of the Forbidden City of Beijing, The Temple of Heaven, The Calming of the Heart Lodge, and the canal city of Suzhou.

Off to the side is a big pit filled with thousands of little pink men, and behind it is a small hill. These are one-third scale reproductions of Emperor Qin's terra-cotta army -- all 6,000 of them -- and his tomb, Mount Li. Qin Shihauangdi, for those of us less well-versed in Chinese history than Mr. ****, was the first emperor of China. The terra-cotta warriors were buried with him over 2,000 years ago and unearthed near Xi'an in 1974.

To read more, please click here:
Forbidden Gardens, Katy, Texas

[nimbusdog]

Originally Posted by AmberAzeneth

Why can't they just relocate out there? There istill plenty of undeveloped prairie available. Or the question should be, "Why did they build in the Grand Parkway ROW(Right of Way) to begin with?" Everyone has known about the basic route of the Grand Parkway for about 20 years now.

I think the Grand Parkway is just a good excuse to close up shop. The Parkway is just going to skirt the bounds of this property. If they need any land for it, it is very minimal. The fact is that this place was just practically a ghost town and hasn't been well kept for several years. There's just no real reason to justify paying to move it to a new location when almost nobody went in the first place.

[AmberAzeneth]

Originally Posted by nimbusdog

I think the Grand Parkway is just a good excuse to close up shop. The Parkway is just going to skirt the bounds of this property. If they need any land for it, it is very minimal. The fact is that this place was just practically a ghost town and hasn't been well kept for several years. There's just no real reason to justify paying to move it to a new location when almost nobody went in the first place.

I remember the hype in the paper when it was first discussed that it was going to be in Katy. I even used to deliver that route out there and i could not tell you where that place was. They did zero advertising or promotion to get a following.

[elnina]

That's right! I never heard about this place, and now is too late to visit it...

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by elnina

That's right! I never heard about this place, and now is too late to visit it...

really? I have mentioned that place often, and I even posted pictures last year.

sad that it is being dismantled, but yes it was poorly advertised. I wish it was set up somewhere near memorial park to begin with.

[elnina]

Yes, I heard about it ( the first time) last year. Didn't get to see it, sadly.