Hong Kong to erect mini 'Palace Museum'

Building expected to be completed in 2022 to exhibit imperial collections on loan from Beijing

Hong Kong will open a miniature "Palace Museum" in 2022 to exhibit priceless imperial collections on loan from the renowned national museum in Beijing.

Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor signed a cooperation agreement on the museum with Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, in Beijing on Friday.

The new museum, to be built in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District, is expected to be completed in 2022. A 30,000-square-meter plot has been set aside for the project.

Shan said the agreement to open the new museum elevates the cooperation between the SAR and the Palace Museum to a new level.

The new museum will promote its Beijing counterpart and traditional Chinese culture through exhibitions, digital presentations, lectures and Palace Museum-themed merchandise, he said.

Previous Palace Museum exhibitions in Hong Kong have drawn large crowds, he said.

One such exhibition, from Nov 30 to Feb 27, focuses on ceremony and celebration in the grand weddings of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors.

Minister of Culture Luo Shugang hailed the plans for the new museum as a milestone in the mainland-Hong Kong relationship.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who was in Beijing to deliver the SAR government's annual work report, said the SAR fully supports the proposed museum and its goal of promoting Chinese culture, and presenting Palace Museum treasures to the world.

Facing myriad social challenges arising from Hong Kong's acute land shortage, the SAR government decided to set aside a 30,000-square-meters plot for the new museum shows its commitment and the project's importance.

As part of the events and celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's reunification with the mainland, an unprecedented exhibition will open in the SAR on June 28, displaying more than 200 treasures from the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Palace Museum. The relics have never before been exhibited outside the Chinese capital.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation was the residence of the last eight emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

Carrie Lam visited Beijing's Capital Museum on Friday, where the treasures from the Hall of Mental Cultivation are currently exhibited. She said that she went there to learn about the experience in preparation for the exhibition of the artifacts in Hong Kong.