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HK Heritage Museum
If there is one museum in Hong Kong you should make a special
effort to visit it is the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin New
Town - the biggest, costliest, newest and in its field undoubtedly
the most comprehensive of them all. Its architecture is patterned
after the traditional 'Si He Yuan' style, or a compound of
harmoniously-blended houses built around a courtyard. Adding to this
bucolic scene, the Museum occupies a restful site in a wooded
setting far from the concrete canyons of the New Town's melange of
high-rise housing complexes.
Opened in December 2000, the US$100 million-plus facility covers
28,500 square metres and is divided into 12 exhibition galleries,
each a treasure house of relics of the history, culture and arts of
early Hong Kong and the nearby South China region. Special features
include a collection of Chinese paintings by the acclaimed artist
Zhao Shao'ang, and an exhibition of the development of Cantonese
opera. A visit to the Museum will also remove any thoughts that when
the British took possession in 1841 Hong Kong was just a "barren"
pile of rock. Farming hamlets and fishing communities had dotted
parts of the territory for several hundred years before then, and
most surprisingly the rice then grown in Sha Tin Valley had a very
special place in ancient Chinese history.
Catch the KCR train from the Hung Hom Terminal, alight at Sha Tin or
Tai Wai KCR station, followed by a 15-minute walk. Or exit in the
direction of the prominent Ikea furniture showrooms and board the
free bus downstairs near the headquarters of the Leisure and
Cultural Services Department from 10am - 6:30pm on Saturdays,
Sundays and public holidays. Open hours are Mondays, Wednesday to
Saturday from 10am to 6pm; From 10am to 7pm on Sundays and Public
Holidays. Closed on Tuesdays and the first two days of the Lunar New
Year.
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Festival Lighting
One of the great
experiences for any traveller coming to Hong Kong during the
Christmas and Chinese New Year holiday is the festive lighting
adorning the city's skyscrapers. This thrilling blaze of lights is
featured in Sha Tin during the district's Festive Lights Display.
Catch the shimmer and shine of the star-studded opening ceremony
that features famous local singers and performing artists.
Transportation: From the Sha Tin KCR station East Gate, walk past
the music fountain in the New Town Plaza, the Sha Tin Town Hall and
down the stairs to the street level of Sha Tin Park by the Shing Mun
River.
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Che Kung Temple
As in most former
rural centres in the New Territories, Sha Tin features a range of
temples with a rich history. Perhaps the most unusual of these is
the Che Kung Temple in the Tai Wai area, which looks more like a
Japanese shrine than a traditional Chinese temple. Today, the temple
is housed in a modern building (completed in 1993), which stands in
front of the original temple, built more than 300 years ago.
Although the modern temple is open to visitors, the original is
normally closed to the public. The temple is dedicated to the
admirable "Che Kung" (General Che), a great soldier who achieved
fame by putting down a rebellion in South China during the Sung
Dynasty (AD 960-1279). He is said to have accompanied the Emperor
when he fled to Hong Kong before the fall of the Sung Dynasty. After
his death, people began worshipping him for his courage and fealty.
Another legend about the origin of the Che Kung Temple says that Che
Kung accompanied the last Emperor of the Sung Dynasty to Hong Kong,
where they settled in Sai Kung. Che Kung was well received by the
villagers in this area because of his obvious love for them and his
medical knowledge. After his death, he was raised to the status of a
deity because he had saved the inhabitants of the Sha Tin Valley
from an outbreak of the plague; the villagers dedicated a temple to
him at Ho Chung in Sai Kung. Today, worshippers flock to the temple
to wish Che Kung happy birthday on the third day of the Lunar New
Year (January/February).
In the temple today, on the upper level of the two sides of the main
altar, stand a huge drum and bell. There is also a giant statue of
Che Kung at the altar in the main worship hall. Next to this is a
fan-bladed wheel of fortune, which, worshippers believe, will bring
good luck when turned three times. An addition to the modern temple
is a very popular corridor of fortune-tellers, which can be found to
the left of the entrance. Admission to the Che Kung Temple is free,
but it is customary to give a small donation to help towards the
maintenance of the complex. The Temple is open from 7am to 6pm
daily. Take the Kowloon Canton Railway (KCR) from Hung Hom or
Kowloon Tong to Tai Wai Station and follow the signs from there to
the temple, along Che Kung Temple Road and via a pedestrian tunnel.
The walk takes about eight minutes.
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Information provided by
Hong Kong Tourism Board.
