Hong Kong History Museum

Features

1. Historical displays instructing on Hong Kong’s history and prehistory.
2. 2,800 rock and mineral specimens from the territory and over 750 specimens of shells.
3. Thousands of other local artifacts.
4. Eight large-scale walk-through theme rooms.
5. Many videos showing on various topics if you want to watch them.

Overview

The Hong Kong Museum of History is a fun museum in the Tsim Sha Tsui area next to the Science Museum. It instructs on the whole history of Hong Kong and its geology from pre-historic times to the present. It has a floor area of 17,500 meters and cost 390,000,000 HKD to build. The Hong Kong government built the facility, and the museum opened in 1998. The museum is divided into 8 main sections that compose a permanent exhibition called the “Hong Kong Story,” and there are also special exhibitions.

Detailed Description

The museum has a permanent exhibition and also temporary special exhibitions. The permanent exhibition is called “Hong Kong Story” that instructs on the whole history of Hong Kong and some of the history of China. To accomplish this, 8 galleries have been built on two floors. The 8 galleries are: 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.

People walk in the hallways from gallery to gallery.

When I was there, the main themes that that I thought were interesting were the British colonial era, the conquest by the Japanese, and the history of Hong Kong since WWII. There were interesting “real-life” displays of Hong Kong at various times, including the British Colonial era and the Japanese invasion.

The walk-through geology and natural history exhibit was interesting too, except for some of the recreations of prehistoric people and animals. The Museum has collected about 2,800 rock and mineral specimens from the around the territory, and there are over 750 specimens of shells from local beaches. The Museum has also acquired over 1,600 animal specimens, including mammals, birds and butterflies. I liked the historical displays about Hong Kong’s recent history, but I thought that the display of Neolithic people on a beach and those of prehistoric animals and geology were kind of hokey.

Location

100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is right next to the Space Museum. 

History

The Hong Kong Museum of History dates back to 1975. The museum was moved to Kowloon Park in 1983. The present main building was funded by the Hong Kong government and designed by P&T Architects and Engineers based on an architectural concept of E. Verner Johnson. The exhibits moved into the new building in 1998. The building cost the government 390,000,000 HKD to build.
Along with this main building, there are five small branch museums: the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence at Shau Kei Wan, the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum at Sham Shui Po, the Law Uk Folk Museum at Chai Wan, the Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery inside Quarry Bay Park, and the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum at Mid-levels in Central. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen is called the “Father of Modern China.” 

Touring Activities

1. Learn about Hong Kong and a little about China.
2. Have fun.
3. Walk over to the Space Museum and other nearby museums.

Traveling Information

1. Best Time to Visit: To visit the museum, any time of the year is OK. It is air-conditioned and heated. On Wednesdays, entrance to it and the other museums nearby is free.
2. Hours: Mondays & Wednesday to Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm
   Sundays and public holidays: 10 am - 7 pm
   Closes at 5 pm on Christmas Eve and Chinese New Year's Eve
   Closed on Tuesdays
3. Touring Time: A quick tour may take only 45 minutes. But you can watch videos or study a section.
4. Getting There: The museum is in walking distance of the Tsim Sha Tsui, East Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom MTR stations. The Star Ferry Terminal is about 2 kilometers away.

Nearby Attractions

Right beside it is the Science Museum. Within walking distance a little more than a kilometer away if you walk down Chatham Road are three of Hong Kong’s highlights along the bay: the Space Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Cultural Center. Along the bay, stretching from the Star Ferry to the Museum of Art is a pedestrian sidewalk called the Avenue of Stars with the handprints of stars of the Hong Kong movie industry.

How to Get to there?