ENG-1978 — Page 266

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

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As wide a range of sports as possible will be catered for at the centre. Preference will be given to those that enjoy high local participation, are most suited to local conditions and whose facilities can be shared. International competitions for sports lacking suitable venues and requiring only limited spectator facilities will be held at the centre. In addition to the Jubilee Sports Centre, two stadia of international standard – the Hung Hom Stadium and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium – are being built by the

govern- ment to provide facilities for more sporting competitions.

During 1978, Hong Kong teams took part in a number of overseas sporting events, including the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, and the Asian Games in Bangkok. The most notable achievement was the winning of six out of seven gold medals for lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games. At the Asian Games, Hong Kong won two silver and three bronze medals. Earlier in the year, a Hong Kong rowing team toured the United Kingdom and took part in several regattas, winning a gold medal at the Nottingham International Regatta. A motorcycle team did well in the Second Guam International Motorcycle Races and in the Third Philippines International Flat Track and Motorcross Championships, finishing in the top three in both events. A hopeful sign for the future came when a junior tennis team com- prising three boys and one girl competed in an eight-tournament tour of Canada and the United States and returned to Hong Kong with a total of 22 titles.

Ocean Park

In its second year of operation, Ocean Park continued to be a favourite location for family outings. The reputation of this amenity - the largest oceanarium in the world - has spread and during 1978 tourists accounted for a small but increasingly important proportion of the total attendance. This has numbered up to 25,000 visitors on public holidays with an average of 8,000 visitors on weekdays. Since its opening in January, 1977, more than five million people have entered Ocean Park, many of them on repeat visits.

Ocean Park was developed by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club on 68 hectares of land provided as a free grant by the government.

The magnificent site, on the Brick Hill peninsula between Aberdeen Channel and Deep Water Bay, offers many attractions unique to Hong Kong. They include a breathtaking ride on the world's largest-capacity cable car system; an innovative children's playground; a touch-and-feed area where tame llamas, calves, kangaroos and sheep provide a valuable educational experience for children; and the park's three main oceanarium exhibits on the headland site.

At the 4,000-seat Ocean Theatre, the largest of its type in the world, visitors can delight in the skills and antics of performing marine mammals. Wave Cove is home to a multitude of aquatic birds and mammals. This simulated rocky coastline, with its man-made waves, represents the first successful intermingling of such widely diverse species as Stellar sealions from Canada, elephant seals and fur seals from South Africa, California sealions and endangered Australian sealions. The Atoll Reef, a giant aquarium also designed to simulate natural conditions, allows visitors to view the full fascination of the underwater world. Some 300 fish species, ranging from 150-kilogram sharks to tiny, brilliantly-coloured coral fish, are on display.