RECREATION AND THE ARTS
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Footpaths are being improved and waymarked and there are nature trails with guide- books for people who take their outings seriously. The Agriculture and Fisheries Department takes measures to safeguard the countryside against fire - often caused by careless visitors - and it is responsible for landscape rehabilitation and the pro- tection of flora and fauna.
Urban Council
The Urban Council plays a vital role in community life and it has considerable experience in managing parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and beaches, and organising sport and entertainment. One of the council's major objectives is to acquire as much open space as possible for recreational use by the people of Hong Kong. Among the many Urban Council projects proceeding are a new sports stadium at Ho Man Tin; additional new grass and artificial turf football pitches; a recreation centre on the Wan Chai reclamation; a tennis complex at Wong Nai Chung Gap; boating facilities at the Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park; for Kowloon Park Stage II, a classical Chinese garden, aviary, music bowl and landscaped rest garden; and Chater Garden, a landscaped area on the site of the old Hong Kong Cricket Club in Central District.
For basketball, badminton, volleyball and gymnastics, more sophisticated indoor facilities are being built to improve standards of performance. Eight more multi- purpose indoor games halls are planned to supplement the four existing ones at Kai Tak East, Cheung Sha Wan, Morse Park, Kowloon, and Boundary Street, Kowloon. A new games hall being built at Aberdeen is expected to be fully operational by early 1979.-
Facilities for athletics, which comprise two stadia, three sports complexes and five running tracks, also are increasing. The Wan Chai Sportsground, with sophisticated electronic timing equipment and an international standard running track, will open for public use in 1979.
The Urban Council's annual sports and recreation promotion programme, which began in 1973 with a modest budget of $200,000, was provided with $2 million in 1978 to cover 3,000 events, involving some 80 sports and other recreational activities.
The events were presented with the co-operation of the governing sports bodies, the Education Department, the Recreation and Sport Service, and prominent community organisations. They helped to improve standards and afforded healthy activities for more than one million people - a 50 per cent increase over 1977.
During 1978, the Urban Council also organised a total of 944 free entertainment programmes throughout the urban area and the New Territories. Events included variety shows, concerts, Cantonese operas, puppet shows, roller skating displays, film shows, musical comedies and youth dances. More than 800,000 people were enter- tained at these events which were presented in parks, playgrounds, recreational and community centres, and school halls.
Swimming
Swimming is Hong Kong's most popular summer recreation. Large crowds flock to the seaside during the hot weather and many people remain on beaches throughout the night, creating extra problems for beach management and cleansing staff.