Hong Kong Museum of History

On my third day in Hong Kong, we had a level 10 typhoon - this is the highest that typhoons are categorised in Hong Kong.

On my seventh day in Hong Kong we had another - a mere level 8 though. Unfortunately this coincided with my peak tourist activity, so I spent an awful lot of time staring out of my hotel room windows at the rain (and catching up with Game of Thrones).

By mid-afternoon, the typhoon level dropped to a 4. This means that Hong Kong starts coming back to life. Although there might be a bit of activity on the MTR during the level 8 (and apparently it's a good time to go to the cinema), the shops are generally shut, the offices are closed, and the streets are deserted. Because no one wants to die.

Seizing my opportunity for a bit of sightseeing, I jumped on the MTR to head off for the Hong Kong Museum of History.


One of the useful extras my hotel offered was a loaner smartphone, which meant I had free Internet access throughout Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the GPS isn't too reliable, so it took me a while to orient myself.

And this is while the tail end of the typhoon is still blowing through town.

Eventually, after sheltering in covered alleyways from the gustier parts of the storm, I found the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of History, which are situated next door to one another.

Only having a couple of hours before closing time, being more interested in history than science, I went for the history museum.

Entry into the main part of the museum, The Hong Kong Story, was free, which very nicely fit into my budget.

The early part of the exhibit is concerned with the geological history of Hong Kong, and created an early impression that the rest of the exhibit was likely to be quite small.

Only after leaving displays (and a short film) of rocks behind, the museum opened out into larger dioramas of the early natural history of Hong Kong.

Followed by the early people of Hong Kong.

And then a lesson in the Chinese history.

The early settlers of Hong Kong.

Including a replica boat.

A replica temple.

A replica farm.

A replica house.

Culture and theatre among the early settlers.

That's a mountain of (replica) buns, by the way.

And then there was a trip upstairs to begin the history of the British involvement with Hong Kong, starting with the Opium Wars (a lovely tale about how nice the British Government were at the time).

Which led us into a  replica dock.

And replica streets and replica shops.

In other words, the exhibit was a lot bigger than than the geology section.

In fact, I didn't have enough time to see the whole thing before the closing time announcement was made, so I came back again the following weekend.