RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS
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audiences, the festival brought in new theatrical and multimedia productions like the Seventh Drawer and the 18 Springs. Other popular shows included Chanting from Mountains Afar, Majestic Drums II and Ancient Dance and Music of Dunhuang. Alongside the stage performances, various extension activities were organised, and these included a performance tour to secondary schools and universities, exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations, forums, and free outdoor performances. A total of 94 cultural events, featuring eight local groups and 17 overseas groups, were presented for some 77 000 participants.
Heritage
Antiquities Advisory Board and Antiquities and Monuments Office
The LCSD's Antiquities and Monuments Office continued to preserve Hong Kong's heritage and promote public awareness of it through exhibitions, guided tours, publications and community involvement projects.
The Antiquities Advisory Board comprises 21 appointed members. It advises the Government on sites and structures that merit protection by declaring them as monuments and on other matters related to antiquities and monuments.
In 2003, the Antiquities and Monuments Office continued to undertake restoration and repair works at various historical buildings, including the Hau Mei Fung Ancestral Hall in Sheung Shui, the Tin Hau Temple in Causeway Bay, the Old House at Wong Uk Village in Sha Tin, the Pak Mong Watchtower and its Gate House on Lantau Island, and the Lawson's Bunker and Former West Brigade Headquarters in Wong Nai Chung Gap.
To encourage and assist owners of private historical buildings to participate in conservation works, the office provided technical advice and support to such owners in their maintenance and restoration projects. In a restoration project concerning the Liu Ying Lung Study Hall in Sheung Shui, a technical team from the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology was invited with the assistance of the office to conduct a cartographic survey of the historical building, and give advice on the conservation plan.
In its endeavours to preserve cultural heritage in the face of impending development projects, the office conducted Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and various conservation studies. Examples were the heritage impact assessment study concerning the Extension of the North Point Low Level Salt Water Supply System, and the consultancy study on the feasibility of protecting the Tat Tak Communal Hall in Ping Shan, Yuen Long from the threat of serious flooding, and on the conservation plan for the hall. Other heritage conservation studies included a feasibility study on the preservation of Old Cable House in Telegraph Bay in Southern District, feasibility study on the preservation of Lee Tat Bridge and realignment of a new bridge in Shui Tsan Tin Tsuen in Pat Heung, Yuen Long, and a conservation assessment of the built heritage of Tung Ping Chau.
The office continued to contribute to the EIA for development projects, and monitored field investigations and implementation of mitigation measures under the Heritage Impact Assessment. For example, terrestrial and marine archaeological investigations and studies were conducted for the Shatin to Central Rail Link and the South-East Kowloon Development plan.