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pharmacy building known as Apotek Chung Hwa was established in 1928 on Jl. Pecinan, an area that is also popularly known as Jakarta'€™s Chinatown, in Glodok, West Jakarta. Eighty-seven years later, the historic building has received a face-lift to become the Pancoran Tea House.

Located adjacent to Glodok Market, the two-story tea house is one of the three sites in Kota Tua that has just been renovated by the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) and the Jakarta Endowment for Art and Heritage (Jeforah).

'€œThis tea house is the entrance of Kota Tua and Jakarta'€™s Chinatown,'€ JOTRC president director Lin Che Wei said recently, while pointing at an old map of the area that shows it is the first building visitors who come from Central Jakarta see in Kota Tua.

Lin said the idea to convert the old pharmacy into a tea house comes from Gan Djie, who lived around the Kota Tua area and served as Chinese captain, the highest official in the semi-autonomous Chinese community appointed by the Dutch colonial administration, from 1663 to 1675. According to Lin, Gan always served tea free of charge to everyone who stopped for a rest in front of his office in Kota Tua.

At that time, there were not as many in the area who sold food and drink as now, which made Gan'€™s tea precious to travelers visiting the busy area. Every day Gan put eight teapots with cups in front of his office, making the place one of the most popular buildings in the area.

The Pancoran Tea House is set to start operating in the near future, emphasizing that besides selling it, the house would also serve tea for free to people who stop by the building, like Gan did in the past.

However, he said transforming Apotek Chung Hwa into a tea house was not an easy job as most parts of the building had been damaged.

Only 20 percent of the building'€™s structure and materials remain original and the rest are replicas of the original parts. It took 10 months for JOTRC and Jeforah to renovate the building.

'€œThe revitalization of the building was not only physically repairing it, but also reviving the historic value of the area. The tea house has a strong connection with Kota Tua,'€ Lin continued.

According to Lin, the revitalization was an important part for the 1.3-kilometer-wide area of Kota Tua to get world recognition as one of the heritage sites in Indonesia. The revitalization project also aims to evoke public empathy for traditions and social solidarity within the area'€™s community.

He said besides the Pancoran Tea House, JOTRC and Jeforah have also finished the revitalization of the old Post Office Building that has been transformed into an art gallery and a building at Jl. Malaka No. 7-9 that would be granted to the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ).

In January 2016, JORTC is set to send the latest phase of its UNESCO World Heritage submission for Kota Tua to be recognized as a historic area. UNESCO is expected to announce the results in mid-2017.

JOTRC project manager Anneke Prasyanti said after completing the three projects, JOTRC expected that the revitalization of 12 other historical sites in Kota Tua would be finished in 2016, including the Jasindo building, the Jiwasraya building and the Kerta Niaga building.

'€œHowever, I must admit that this Pancoran Tea House was the most difficult one,'€ Anneke said. She said she could not find the building'€™s original shape because it had undergone several changes in the past.