ENG-2002 — Page 481

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

The museum organised a variety of educational activities, such as demonstrations on Chinese tea drinking, tea gatherings for parents and children, tea gatherings with instrumental music, tea classes and video shows. During the year, 152 820 visitors were served.

Hong Kong Museum of History

The Museum of History staged four thematic exhibitions during the year The Great Wall: Gems of Cultural Relics of the Nomadic Tribes; War and Peace: Treasures of the Qin and Han Dynasties; The Battle for Hong Kong: Hong Kong under the Camera of the Japanese Army; and Bits of Old Hong Kong: Museum Acquisitions in the Last Five Years. The first two exhibitions were joint presentations, respectively, with the Capital Museum of Beijing and the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau. In the third exhibition, 70 photographs recorded through Japanese eyes the battle for Hong Kong from December 8 to 25, 1941. The Bits of Old Hong Kong exhibition depicted the life of local people in the past few decades by displaying artifacts acquired since Hong Kong's reunification with the Mainland. Altogether, the museum's permanent exhibition on The Hong Kong Story and the thematic exhibitions attracted 897 118 visitors.

To enhance public interest in local history and cultural heritage, the museum organised 787 educational and extension activities, including guided tours, weekend lectures, workshops, demonstrations and performances, field trips, video programmes, symposiums and quiz competitions. Moreover, the museum and the Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture jointly organised the 1st Inter-school Competition of Study Projects on Hong Kong's History and Culture. The theme was 'Immigrants and their Impact on the Development of Hong Kong'. Among publications produced by the museum to promote culture and heritage were A History of the Municipal Councils of Hong Kong: 1883-1999 and History and Relics of the Great Wall.

Besides the Museum of Coastal Defence, the Museum of History manages two other branch museums the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum in Sham Shui Po and the Law Uk Folk Museum in Chai Wan. They attracted 70 438 visitors.

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

Converted from the old Lei Yue Mun Fort in Shau Kei Wan, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence occupies some 34 000 square metres, comprising three main areas: Entrance Block, Redoubt, and Historical Trail. The Redoubt is the major exhibition area, housing the standing exhibition that depicts Hong Kong's history of coastal defence from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present era. Visitors may also explore the historical military structures in the Redoubt and on the Historical Trail, such as the gun batteries, the torpedo station, caponiers and magazines.

Thematic exhibitions presented during the year were The Medal Story (jointly with the Hong Kong branch of the Orders and Medals Research Society, Military Uniforms in Contemporary Warfare, and Dr Sun Yat-sen and Modern China.

Hong Kong Heritage Museum

The Heritage Museum, the largest in Hong Kong with a total floor area of 32 000 square metres, has become a cultural landmark and an attraction for both local residents and overseas visitors since its opening in December 2000. There were

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