HONG KONGâ€"If you arrive at Hong Kong’s international airport on Lantau island and take a cab or bus into the central district on Hong Kong island, you can’t help but notice the sheer number of ships and boats in the water. The seas around Hong Kong draw vessels from all over the world and thousands arrive every year.
The newly reopened Hong Kong Maritime Museum explores East Asia’s inextricable link to the water, putting Hong Kong’s maritime story into context regionally and internationally, as the museum puts it.
The museum officially reopened last month on Central Ferry Pier 8 in the heart of Victoria Harbor.
It first opened in 2004 in Murray House, a 19th-century building that was moved to Stanley, an area along the southern coast of Hong Kong island somewhat removed from other cultural attractions found in the Central and Kowloon districts.
Now, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has provided the space on the central pier and some funding for staff salaries for the first several years. The rest of the museum’s costs are covered mainly by donations, including those of prominent shipping companies. Each of the galleries in the museum is supported by a shipping company or a person connected to shipping, according to Robert Trio, one of the principal consultants who worked on the reopening.
The galleries are divided onto three well-organized levels. Starting on the lower floor, visitors receive an introduction to ancient Chinese culture with the oldest item on display, a ceramic model boat that dates from the Han Dynasty. Other galleries include everything from depictions of maritime culture in fine art across the centuries (including loans from other museums) to 19th- and 20th-century technology used in diving and sailing to hands-on displays that allow visitors to sound bells and horns from ships. (A tip to visitors: avoid standing directly in front of them while sounding!).
The museum’s collection has over 5,000 items, an array that can be overwhelming but also leave a visitor wanting to know more. Who, for example, was Philo McGiffin, a few of whose belongings are on display He was an American naval captain, Philo McGiffin, who lived in China in the late 19th century, but his significance remains unexplained.
But as a general overview of maritime culture, it’s hard to imagine a more engaging and appealing space. Its staff is knowledgeable and its resource center is open to both scholars and the public, according to Kitty But, a librarian at the center.
On the main floor large windows, directly over the harbor, are framed by a beautiful figurehead above and a reproduction of a map on the carpet below. It’s a spectacular view and a good reminder of just how close to the sea you are in Hong Kong.
A highlight of the collection is a painted scroll known as “Pacifying the South China Sea†(its original name has been lost, along with that of the artist). Painted in the 19th century, its colorful images tell the story of piracy and its decline in southern China after the arrival of a governor general, Bailing. An interactive wall display allows visitors to zoom in digitally on particular areas of the scroll and read sections of a related Chinese text. In another room of the museum, a 360-degree screen animates parts of the scroll, to an audio accompaniment.
There are more than 50 interactive touch screens, in both English and Chinese, in the museum that allow visitors to learn more about specific items in the collection. The building includes a gift shop and eventually will also have a cafe.
