Erected in 1929 with a generous donation from Mr Tang Chi-ngong (father of Sir Shiu-kin Tang), after whom it was named, the building was designed to house the university’s School of Chinese. It was officially opened by Sir William Peel, the then Governor of Hong Kong, on 28 September 1931. Chinese studies and other arts subjects were taught in the building until the early 1950s. It was used as the Centre of Asian Studies from 1982 to 2012 and now houses the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole.
The symmetrical, three-storey, flat-roofed Tang Chi Ngong Building is designed in the Neo-classical style: the windows are arranged in a regular pattern aligned on vertical axes running through the three storeys on all four sides, while the Shanghai plaster surfacing is grooved to resemble ashlar masonry with a horizontal band of Greek key pattern fretwork between the ground and first floors.
The Exterior of Tang Chi Ngong Building, The University of Hong Kong was declared a monument in 1995.