ENG-1979 — Page 254

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

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Fifth Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Edinburgh. Of particular interest was Hong Kong's success at the Fifth International Special Olympics for the Mentally Handicapped in New York State, where nine gold medals were won.

Ocean Park

Ocean Park, the world's largest oceanarium, is one of the most spectacular recreational and educational complexes in Asia. Developed by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, on land granted free by the government, it has attracted more than six million visitors since it opened three years ago.

Spanning a high, rocky peninsula between Aberdeen and Deep Water Bay on Hong Kong Island, Ocean Park's lowland and headland sites are linked by cable car. In 1979, further development schemes were proposed, including an alternative means of access to the headland site from Tai Shue Wan Bay through a series of escalators.

Ocean Park's three main marine exhibits are located at the headland site. Ocean Theatre, with a 4,000-seat auditorium facing a show-pool, features daily performances by trained dolphins, sealions and a killer whale. Wave Cove, a simulated coastline of rocks and waves, allows visitors to see intermingled species of seals, sealions and penguins. Atoll Reef, recreating the shallows and depths of a tropical atoll, has viewing galleries at four levels. It is the world's biggest aquarium, displaying some 300 species ranging from sharks to tiny coral fish.

The lowland site has been landscaped around a small lake and pools. In addition to animals and birds, it contains a touch-and-feed area, an innovative playground for children and two outdoor theatres. Special attractions in 1979 included pandas on loan from the Guangzhou (Canton) Zoo, the first giraffe to be seen in Hong Kong, and the annual flower festival. Ocean Park is a non-profit organisation.

Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre

The Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre is an ambitious project of the Urban Council and the government to further improve cultural, recreational and educational facilities in Hong Kong.

Space Museum

The Hong Kong Space Museum, which forms the first stage of the Tsim Sha Tsui complex, is scheduled to open in 1980. It will house a 300-seat planetarium under one of the largest domes in the world, two exhibition halls with a total area of about 1,400 square metres, and a 200-seat lecture hall, in which sky shows, exhibitions and lectures will be held.

In the planetarium, celestial phenomena will be simulated on the dome-shaped screen. A star projector, working in conjunction with an Omnimax projection system, will be capable of projecting 9,000 stars in various configurations and surrounding the audience with a panorama of ultra-sharp definition. The latter system is only the fifth of its kind in the world and the first to be installed outside America.

An exhibition hall of 1,000 square metres, on the ground floor, will feature Man's achievements in astronomy and space exploration. On the first floor, a 400-square metre solar sciences hall will provide information on the structure and activities of the sun and its relationship with Earth. People will be able to see images of the sun showing sunspots, prominences, faculae and other phenomena on a screen or through a solar telescope installed on the roof.

Besides the presentation of eight to 10 sky shows a day, the museum will organise activities such as public lectures, astronomy classes and star camps.