Hong Kong Palace Museum ready to open

The Hong Kong Palace Museum is set to open to the public on July 2 to mark Hong Kong's 25th anniversary of returning to the motherland, paving the way for the city's lofty goal of bridging Chinese culture with the rest of the world.

During the opening exhibitions, 914 treasures borrowed from the Palace Museum in Beijing will be on display at the new 13,000-square-meter attraction on the West Kowloon District harbor-front. Many of the collections will be exhibited in the city for the first time.

The loan of the Palace Museum's collection will be the largest since the Beijing museum's establishment in 1925.

Spanning nearly 5,000 years, the works on loan are rich and diverse, including paintings, calligraphy, bronzeware, ceramics, jade, metalwork, enamelware, lacquer, seals, costumes, textiles, jewelry, rare books and architecture.

About 160 of the items are classified as national treasures. The works will be on display in Hong Kong for a month to over a year.

Tickets for the museum will be sold on various online platforms starting next Tuesday.

People can pay HK$50 ($6.3) to enjoy thematic exhibitions, or HK$120 for all the collections including special exhibitions.

Eligible students and older adults can enjoy a concession of 50 percent of the ticket price, and 150,000 free standard tickets will be sent to disadvantaged groups.

The public can enjoy free admission to most exhibitions every Wednesday during the museum's first year of operation.

The museum is expected to receive 7,000 people every day, but the number will be capped at about 5,000 amid the epidemic.

Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of Hong Kong Palace Museum, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the newly built project is a significant gift for Hong Kong's 25th anniversary, and expressed great appreciation for the central government's support for the cultural landmark's birth.

"Its opening symbolizes a vital step in Hong Kong's drive to become an exchange hub of Chinese and overseas culture and arts," he said.

Funded by a HK$3.5 billion donation from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the museum is a collaboration between the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and the Palace Museum in Beijing. The construction process lasted about three years.

Following the opening of the M+museum of visual culture in November last year, the Hong Kong Palace Museum is expected to be a new attraction of the iconic West Kowloon Cultural District, which aims to be a world-class arts district.