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After six years' painstaking preparatory work, "The Hong Kong Story", the latest permanent exhibition of the Hong Kong Museum of History, is finally completed and will be opened to the public from August 30, 2001 onwards.

Occupying an area of 7,000 square meters, "The Hong Kong Story" comprises eight galleries located on two floors. Through the display of over 3,700 exhibits with the use of 750 graphic panels and 53 interactive programmes, the exhibition promises the visitors an amazing cultural and historical journey of Hong Kong in the past 400 million years.

The Chief Curator of the Museum Dr Joseph Ting Sun-pao noted that the exhibition was the soul of the Museum and also a showcase of the dedicated hard work done by the Museum staff in the past 26 years in collecting, preserving and researching the history and development of Hong Kong. He also noted that with a rich mixture of ecological settings, panoramic screens, dioramas, interactive programmes and artefacts, the exhibition outlined the natural environment, cultural heritage and historical development of Hong Kong in a life-like manner.

"The exhibition, which is both entertaining and educational, starts from the Devonian Period 400 million years ago and concludes with the return of sovereignty of the territory to China in 1997. We sincerely invite the people to this 400 million years of journey, and hope that this exhibition can arouse the public's interest in and introspection on the historical and cultural heritage of Hong Kong," said Dr Ting.

To ensure a reflection of the true pictures of the history, Museum staff conducted a series of dedicated exercises to collect relevant information after the content of each exhibit area had been decided on. Besides consulting reference materials, local and overseas scholars, they also conducted site visits and interviews to enrich the contents of the exhibition.

"After the story-boards of the exhibition have been finalised, the design consultant then made several visits to Hong Kong to take part in site visits with Museum staff to assimilate the atmosphere and experience local conditions at shops, village settlements, ancestral halls, temples, workshops as well as public and private organisations. Additional joint visits were made to Macau and Guangzhou to inspect lanes and alleys retaining traditional Guangzhou characteristics for reference in the design work. These extensive measures typify the exhaustive efforts over the years to ensure the accuracy of the exhibition," said Dr Ting.

"The Hong Kong Story" comprises eight galleries, namely "The Natural Environment", "Prehistoric Hong Kong", "The Dynasties: From the Han to the Qing", "Folk Culture in Hong Kong", "The Opium Wars and the Cession of Hong Kong", "Birth and Early Growth of the City", "The Japanese Occupation" and "Modern Metropolis and The Return to China".

"The Natural Environment" consists of two areas, namely "Landform and Climate" and "Flora and Fauna". Visitors will first enter into a tunnel of time, paved with pseudo stone slabs, in which rocks and fossils are displayed to demonstrate the topography of Hong Kong through the succession of geological periods in the last 400 million years. Emerging the tunnel, visitors will witness the ecosystem of Hong Kong's flora and fauna of 6,000 years ago by plunging into a forest of towering trees as high as 18 metres, with many birds, reptiles and mammals.

Exhibits in the gallery of "Prehistoric Hong Kong" include prehistoric artefacts of stone, pottery and bronze. There is also a 42-metre long beach diorama on which several activities, such as making fire for cooking, building houses and fashioning ornaments with stone, are demonstrated. The life-like scenes enable visitors to experience different aspects of live of early inhabitants.

"The Dynasties: From the Han to the Qing" mainly outlines Hong Kong's development from Qin and Han to Qing dynasties. The people who inhabited South China from prehistoric times were the Nanyue people. From the Qin and Han dynasties, the Han people of Central China migrated to the south, bringing with advanced culture and technology. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Pearl River Delta was developed and migrants multiplied in numbers. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, more clans moved to Hong Kong and gave this small island a significant economic boost.

The "Folk Culture in Hong Kong" introduces the different customs of four ethnic groups of Hong Kong and South China. Stepping onto a life-size fishing junk, visitors can take a close look at the Boat Dwellers' daily life, and learn about their customs and beliefs. Although salt production in Hong Kong ceased a long time ago, the reconstructed salt field makes it possible to visualise the Hoklo people making salt in the old days. Furthermore, The Hakka people's frugal life style can be reflected in a sparsely furnished peasant family's dwelling, and the settings of the traditional temple and ancestral hall vividly show local marriage customs, and the celebration of birth ritual at the Lantern Festival.

"The Opium Wars and the Cession of Hong Kong" outlines the Opium Wars, their causes, the way they unfolded and the consequences. Going back to events before the Wars, visitors can trace the discovery of the new sea route from Europe to Asia, the arrival of the Portuguese in Macau and their mercantile activities there, the institution of the 13 "hongs" of Guangzhou, and early Sino-British relations.

The gallery of "Birth and Early Growth of the City" aims at bringing the visitors back to the days of Hong Kong before 1941. Visitors will be astounded by the sight of an European style structure adjacent to a port. Behind the building stretches an old street lined with a variety of shops, including tea shop, pawnshop, grocery store, Cantonese teahouse, bank and etc. Developments in Hong Kong's political structure, the law, people's livelihood, industry and education are also highlighted in the displays.

The gallery of "The Japanese Occupation" is designed to conjure up the memory of the Second World War. Through the display of relics, historic photographs and videos, visitors can witness the horrific battles and learn about the harsh conditions in Hong Kong under Japanese occupation, and empathise with people's feelings of insecurity and fear.

"Modern Metropolis and The Return to China" gives a vivid impression of Hong Kong's Post War economic and social climate and the emergence of a commonality shared by the population as a whole, such as the rapid advances in housing, industry, finance and trade. The exhibition will be concluded by the Sino-British negotiations, the signing of the Joint Declaration and the Handover Ceremony which marks the return of sovereignty to China.

The Hong Kong Museum of History is located at 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (next to the Hong Kong Science Museum). Admission is $10 with half-price concession for full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Admission is free on Wednesdays.

The Museum opens from 10am to 6pm daily. In the first six months (from September 2001 to February 2002) of the opening of "The Hong Kong Story" exhibition, the Museum will open from 10am to 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. Meanwhile, the Museum will change its weekly closing day to Tuesdays effective August 30, 2001. During the initial opening period of "The Hong Kong Story" exhibition, special admission arrangements such as advance sale of tickets for three days and admission by hourly sessions may be made where necessary.

For details, please visit the museum's website at http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkmh/ or call 2724 9042.

End/Friday, August 17, 2001

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