Rik

Super little museum in Kowloon park. In an old and interesting colonial building, the museum is spread over 2 floors, which you are essentially directed around. The ground floor is really very interesting with galleries on prehistoric Hong Kong and later history basically laid out chronologically. The stand out best gallery here, though there is much great material, are the 7000 sherds of export ware displayed under the floor, from Penny Bay. As you go upstairs you go into the architectural gallery. Some nice audio visual displays there as well as models and practical displays on Chinese architecture such as the pan and roll roof.

Wonderful gothic style cathedral in central Hong Kong. The oldest Anglican cathedral in Asia and built in the Gothic revival style which is really obvious when you look to the pointed windows and pointed decoration. Built in 1849 it has a long history of religious use but during the war suffered damage, for example the stained glass was removed, when it was occupied by the Japanese who turned it into a club. There are many interesting things to note. The use of cast iron window frames for example. However for me it is especially interesting to see stained glass that reflects the different parishioners, such as the fishers, found in Hong Kong. It's easy to access the cathedral from Hong Kong park and indeed admiralty MTR through the park. There is also a bookshop in a building adjacent to the Cathedral.

Located not far away from man mo temple, and hosting much of the colonial and local medical history of HK. The building is a lovely old colonial structure and rather fittingly the old pathological centre. Inside apart from the charms of the old buildings are choice elements from the museum gallery displaid. The galleries are largely thematic. There are notable displays on plague including a very realistic plague rat laboratory, vaccines and their production and a wonderful Chinese medicine shop complete with choice herbs. There is also a little garden well worth a visit, which I recall as containing medicinal herbs. There are occasional displays that are well worth attending.

Once upon a time this museum was located at Stanley but nowadays it has moved to the piers in Central. The museum makes the most of the new space that it has. The many galleries in the museum are either chronological or thematic. Walking down from reception takes you into the early maritime history of China and there are some nice early ceramic models of boats and reconstructions of early types of Chinese ships. There is also a very nice display on early trade routes. As you move through the gallery you enter the section on trade with the West. There are some lovely canton wares on display. There is also a canon from the opium war once displayed outside the tower of London. As you move through the gallery and go upstairs the focus is more on WW2, trade and trading. There are models and paintings of Georgian and Victorian trade ships and a gallery of modern model ships. Also as you go up the stairs you see modern ship equipment and learn about modern trade in the city as well as the infilling of the harbour. The highlight probably is a simulator of a ship deck you can use with an appointment.

Good car park. You can pay by card or cash which is nice to see. I guess it works out at about a pound an hour when I visited. There is good access to the coastal path and beach from the car park. The car park itself is stone and soil, i.e. no tarmac and parking is around the edges. It was fine on a sunny day but it might be an issue on rainy days and when it's crowded. Some useful info about the local beaches is in the car park.