ENG-2000 — Page 462

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

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afternoons during the exhibition period. From January 29 to May 7, an exhibition entitled Heritage of the Teaching Profession: The Changing Roles of Hong Kong Teachers was held in the museum's main lobby. The exhibition provided an introduction to the development of local education, as well as the changing roles of teachers in Hong Kong, through the display of photographs, historical objects, documents and video shows. The exhibition drew 35 522 visitors. A thematic exhibition entitled Encounter with Hong Kong's Past: History Through the Museum's Collection began on June 17, and attracted about 116 540 visitors up to the end of December. To complement the exhibition, public lectures and briefing sessions for primary and secondary school teachers were held.

The museum organised a wide range of educational activities such as lectures, workshops, training courses on local history for secondary school teachers, field visits to local historic and nature sites, as well as a series of orientation programmes for students of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, all of which attracted a large attendance. The museum's loan services such as travelling exhibitions, videos and slide packs were much sought after by schools and other organisations. Other student programmes included the ninth inter-school competition on a study project - the Streets of Hong Kong-jointly organised with the Education Department and the Public Records Office, which drew an encouraging response from schools, with a total of 93 teams taking part. Altogether, the museum had 152 425 visitors during the year.

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence opened in July. Located on the Lei Yue Mun headland in Shau Kei Wan, the museum is restored from the former Lei Yue Mun Fort. It occupies an area of over 34 000 square metres and comprises three core components - the Entrance Block, the Redoubt and the Historical Trail. Installed in the 11 chambers inside the Redoubt, a permanent exhibition illustrates Hong Kong's history of coastal defence from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Opium War and the Japanese invasion up to the present. Apart from viewing the artefacts on display in the exhibition galleries, visitors may explore the old military structures in the Redoubt and on the Historical Trail, such as the batteries, the underground magazines, the protective ditch and caponiers, and the torpedo station. The museum. had already attracted a total attendance of 306 420 by the end of the year.

Other History Museums

The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum, with its thematic display on Food Culture of Han Dynasty had more than 65 000 visitors during the year. The Law Uk Folk Museum attracted more than 20 000 visitors with its permanent display of rural furniture and farming implements, as well as the thematic exhibition on The Art of Traditional String Puppetry of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Heritage Museum

The Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin opened to the public in December, representing a milestone in the efforts to preserve Hong Kong's culture. With a gross floor area of 28 500 square metres and an exhibition area of 7 500 square metres, it is the largest museum in the HKSAR. The traditional Chinese courtyard design has been adopted for the museum, but it also incorporates state-of-the-art architectural technology. The museum has 12 galleries that display relics from the New Territories,