Hong Kong 2012 Part 7 – Old Hong Kong

How much do you know about the history, cultural and heritage of Hong Kong? There is a place where you can go to get a quick in-depth educational tour about the country of Hong Kong and is rated as one of the top attractions of the city.

The Hong Kong History Museum with it’s permanent exhibit known as the Hong Kong story, occupies 7000 sq meters, comprises of 8 galleries and 3,700 exhibits. “The Hong Kong Story” outlines the natural environments, culture and historical development of Hong King through its use of 750 graphic panels, lots of dioramas and multimedia exhibits.

Gallery 1 – The Natural Environment

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Emerging from a ‘tunnel of time’ paved with stone slabs, we enter into a forest of towering trees as high as 18 metres, with specimens of birds, reptiles and mammals.

Gallery 2 – Prehistoric Hong Kong

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We enter into prehistoric Hong Kong 6,000 years ago, with a 42m long beach diorama where several activities are depicted; such as making fire for cooking, building houses and making ornaments with stone.

 

Gallery 3 – From the Han to the Qing

This gallery outlines the development of Hong Kong form the Han to the Qing dynasties through the relics preserved in the territory and on loan from Shenzhen.

Gallery 4 – Folk Culture in Hong Kong

This section of the museum has one of the most elaborate dioramas which were so impressive, comprising of live sized junk boats, figures and living conditions of the 4 ethnic groups of Hong Kong and South China.

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HKHstyMuseum 9The Boat Dwellers’ living conditions

HKHstyMuseum 11Making Salted Fish

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HKHstyMuseum 19A Hakka’s peasant family’s dwelling

 

The most impressive diorama from this section of the gallery has to be the reconstruction of the Taiping Qingjiao ceremony held annually in Cheng Chau, including the…

HKHstyMuseum 21i. Cantonese Opera Theatre

HKHstyMuseum 20ii. Backstage of the Opera

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HKHstyMuseum 27iii. The puppet theaters

HKHstyMuseum 25iv. The Street stall

 

HKHstyMuseum 22v. The amazing diorama includes the Lion Dance, the bun mountains, the altars etc

 

Gallery 5 – Opium Wars and Cessation of Hong Kong

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This gallery outlines the Opium wars, their causes, the way they unfolded and the consequences.

 

Gallery 6 – Birth and Early Growth of the City

Now this is another intriguing part of the museum, which houses a three storey European style structure adjacent to a port scene and against the background of an old photograph of Kowloon.

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Next to the bank is an old steam launch, all real sized :)

Behind the building stretches an old street scene lined with a variety of shops;

HKHstyMuseum 29A bank

 

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Post Office

 

HKHstyMuseum 37Pawnshop

 

HKHstyMuseum 38Teashop

HKHstyMuseum 41Grocery Shop

 

HKHstyMuseum 43Tailor Shop

 

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HKHstyMuseum 45Quaint Shing Chai Tong shop selling herbal medicine

 

HKHstyMuseum 47A Teahouse


HKHstyMuseum 49There’s even a dark alleyway with a stall selling fruits

HKHstyMuseum 54And an actual double decker tram

 

Gallery 7 – The Japanese Occupation

No dioramas here, however the gallery is designed as an air raid shelter in order to create the atmosphere of war. Through the display of relics, historical photographs and videos, you can witness the battles during WWII and learn about the harsh living conditions during the Japanese Occupation.

Gallery 8 – Modern Metropolis and the Return to China

This last gallery follows the story of Hong Kong’s postwar development into a modern metropolis. In this area, are reconstruction of…

HKHstyMuseum 55Hong Kong public housing in the 60s, which housed at least 8 people in one room

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HKHstyMuseum 57A herbal tea shop

HKHstyMuseum 63A barber shop

HKHstyMuseum 58A cinema

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Peering through the ticketing booth of the cinema

HKHstyMuseum 61Inside of the cinema showing snippets of old Hong Kong movies

HKHstyMuseum 62A grocery shop

HKHstyMuseum 64A comic book stall

The second part of Gallery 8 is devoted to the handover ceremony marking the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty too China which brings ‘The Hong Kong Story’ exhibit to a close. If you have time for only one museum visit in Hong Kong, and have about 3 hours to spare, this is the place to go.

 

K and I were utterly intrigued by what we saw and experienced in the museum and in his words, “This is the 2nd best thing I saw in Hong Kong, first best thing is Lantau Beach. Singapore’s History Museum is really not so good.” One word for Singapore History Museum, “Dioramas”. Maybe all Singapore History Museum needs are more dioramas, and we will be a little more engaged with the exhibits there.

 

To get to Hong Kong History Museum, follow the same directions from Hung Hom MTR station, as this museum is located right opposite the Hong Kong Science Museum on the same side of the road. Admission is at HKD$10 for adult (cheap, cheap!!) and child HKD$5. Admission is free on Wednesdays and the museum is closed every Tuesdays. Audio guides, providing English commentaries on more than 100 exhibits in the museum, are available for HKD$10.

 

This post wraps up my blog series of Hong Kong 2012. This is just but a small part of Hong Kong that we have discovered from our recent trip to Hong Kong.

Here are the 7 parts of this series of posts :

Part 1 – Hong Kong Disneyland Fun and Food

Part 2 – Flowers and Birds

Part 3 – Sartorial Hong Kong

Part 4 : Lantau Beaches

Part 5 : Hong Kong Fresh Food Market

Part 6 : Hong Kong Science Museum

Part 7 : Hong Kong History Museum

All Photos for Hong Kong 2012 (with the exception of Part 4 – Lantau Beaches), was taken by yours truly with my trusty Canon 550D, with Tamron 17-55mm F2.8 and Tamron Wide Angle 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 lens.

 

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  1. I only knew HK from “from Han to Qing” (watch too much drama show since young;p).

    HK has come from a very long and difficult way, and tough road ahead. I somehow admire their rich folk culture, but some see them rough and messy.

    If we are going back to HK again, I hope to bring the girls to visit this museum.
    pc´s last blog post ..Cardboard Challenge

  2. Lovely pictures of old hong kong. I haven’t been to this museum. Must bring the kids there the next time we are back in Hk.
    Dominique Goh´s last blog post ..Weekend Breakfast with Tiger Girl