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Hong Kong Heritage Museum Review
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Hong Kong Heritage Museum 
- Address: 1 Man Lam Rd., New Territories, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
- Phone: 2180-8188
- hk.heritage.museum
- Category: Museums/Galleries
- Location: New Territories
Fodor's Review:
This fabulous museum is Hong Kong's largest, yet it still seems a well-kept secret: chances are you'll have most of its 10 massive galleries to yourself. They ring an inner courtyard, which pours light into the lofty entrance hall.
The New Territories Heritage Hall is packed with local history -- 6,000 years of it. See life as it was in beautiful dioramas of traditional villages -- one on land, the other on water (with houses-on-stilts). There's also lots of info and artifacts related to religion and festivals. The last gallery documents the rise of massive urban New Towns. There's even a computer game where you can design your own.
In the T. T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art exquisite antique Chinese glass, ceramics, and bronzes fill nine hushed second-floor rooms. The curators have gone for quality over quantity. Look for the 4-foot-tall terra-cotta Horse and Rider, a beautiful example of the figures enclosed in tombs in the Han Dynasty (206[bcad]220). The Tibetan religious statues and thankga paintings are unique in Hong Kong.
The Cantonese Opera Hall is all singing, all dancing, and utterly hands-on. The symbolic costumes, tradition-bound stories, and stylized acting of Cantonese opera can be impenetrable: the museum provides simple explanations and stacks of artifacts, including century-old sequined costumes that put anything Vegas dreams up to shame.
Kids love the Children's Discovery Gallery, where hands-on activities for 4- to 10-year-olds include dressing up in traditional Hakka gear and putting a broken "archaeological find" back together. The Hong Kong Toy Story, charting more than a century of local toys, brings a whole new dimension to that Made in Hong Kong tag in the toy box.
- Cost: HK$10; free Wed.
- Open: Mon., Wed.-Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-7
- Metro: Che Kung or Sha Tin KCR
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