RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
The second inter-school competition of study projects on the traditional trade and crafts in Hong Kong was launched and received an encouraging response.
In 1993, the museum embarked upon various research projects. These included a special research project into the historical background of the Lei Yue Mun fortifications and their role in Hong Kong's coastal defence, and a project on Chinese antique maps of the Hong Kong region.
The Lei Cheng Uk Branch Museum presented a new display on the costumes of the Han dynasty and attracted 45 295 visitors. At the Law Uk Folk Museum, a thematic exhibition on Chinese and Japanese folk art was presented alongside its permanent display of rural furniture and farming implements. The exhibition was attended by 49 711 visitors.
Sheung Yiu Folk Museum
Situated at a scenic spot in Sai Kung, this museum is housed in a fortified Hakka village built in the late 19th century. The 500-square-metre village comprises eight domestic units, pig pens, an open courtyard and an entrance gate tower, and is situated on a raised platform about two metres above ground level. The village, together with a nearby lime kiln, was gazetted as a monument in 1981. Period furniture and local farming implements are displayed. The museum building was renovated, and planning for reorganising the structure and the exhibits for visitors was put in hand in 1993. Despite its remoteness, the museum attracted 56 000 visitors.
The Hong Kong Railway Museum
This open-air museum, occupying an area of 6 500 square metres, is located in 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 an educational audio-visual room housed in a mock-up of an electric train. The station building, in Chinese decorative style, was built in 1913. The museum attracted 210 000 visitors in 1993.
Sam Tung Uk Museum
The museum, located close to the Mass Transit Railway terminus in Tsuen Wan, was originally an old Hakka walled village built in 1786. The layout of the 2 000-square-metre village resembles a chequer-board with an entrance hall, an assembly hall and an ancestral hall along the central axis. The village was declared a monument in 1981 because of its historical significance. After restoration, it was furnished with traditional Hakka furniture and farming implements. The largest museum of its kind in Hong Kong, it attracted 370 000 visitors in 1993.
Two exhibitions were staged at the museum during the year. The Heritage of Cantonese Opera marked the completion of efforts by the museum to record, collect and acquire 3 835 opera-related artifacts in the past five years. The second exhibition, On Track: the Story of Hong Kong Rail Transport, presented a colourful collection of memorabilia, models and preserved documents illustrating the history and future development of the five modes of railway transport in Hong Kong.
Antiquities Advisory Board
The Antiquities Advisory Board has 14 appointed members drawn from a variety of backgrounds. They include archaeologists, historians, architects, anthropologists, planners
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