RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
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The Hong Kong Railway Museum
This open air museum, occupying an area of 6 500 square metres, is located at the town centre of Tai Po Market. It comprises the old Tai Po Market Railway Station building, six passenger coaches dating from 1911 to 1974 and a mock-up of an electric train. The station building, in unique Chinese style, was built in 1913. The attendance figure of the museum was 372 000.
Sam Tung Uk Museum
The museum, located in Tsuen Wan, was originally an old Hakka walled village built in 1786 by the Chan family. The restoration project-achieved wide recognition and won the Pacific Heritage Award from the Pacific Asia Tourist Association. The layout of the village resembles a checker-board with an entrance hall, an assembly hall and an ances- tral hall at the central axis. It occupies an area of 2000 square metres. Because of its historical significance, the village was declared a monument in 1981. After restoration, it was furnished with traditional Hakka furniture and farming implements. As the largest museum of its kind in the territory, in 1990 it attracted 613 000 local as well as overseas visitors.
Three popular exhibitions were staged at the museum during the year. An exhibition on Rice Farming in Hong Kong traced the territory's most important economic activity back to 1 000 years ago when permanent agricultural communities settled in the New Territories. A colourful Kite-tales exhibition was staged to commemorate the kite-flying day of the Regional Council Festival 1990.
A joint exhibition entitled Memories of Hong Kong: Historic Postcards and Photo- graphs from the Arthur Hacker Collection was displayed at the museum.
Antiquities Advisory Board
The Antiquities Advisory Board, established by law in 1977, has 14 appointed members drawn from a variety of backgrounds, such as archaeology, history, architecture, anthro- pology and geology. The board advises the government on which sites and structures merit protection through declaration as monuments. The Antiquities and Monuments Office continued an active programme of recording, protecting, preserving and restoring the archaeological and historical heritage of the territory and informing the public about heritage preservation.
Several historic buildings, including the Wan Chai Post Office, the Old Pathological Institute, the former Western Market and the former Kowloon-Canton Railway Terminus Clock Tower, were added to the list of gazetted monuments during the year. During the year, the board graded a number of non-Chinese religious buildings and market buildings according to their historical significance, architectural merits and other factors.
With sponsorship of $2.35 million from the Jockey Club, major restoration commenced on the Tang Chung-ling Ancestral Hall at Tsz Tong Tsuen in Fanling. Restoration of the Kun Ting study hall at Ping Shan, the most elegant study hall in the territory, was completed during the year with a $2 million donation, also from the Jockey Club. Members of the Tang lineage in Ping Shan initiated a major $4 million renovation project on their main ancestral hall, the biggest project ever undertaken on an historic building in private ownership. Rescue repair was carried out at on a 19th century house, 'Wong Uk', in Sha Tin,