The new Hong Kong Palace Museum opens

Art and culture lovers visiting Hong Kong can now peruse the newly opened Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) located at the western tip of Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District.

Positioned along the Victoria Harbour waterfront, HKPM is conveniently located near the newly opened M+ (museum of visual culture), the recently renovated Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Xiqu Centre for Chinese Opera.

Taking five years to complete, the HKPM houses a prized collection of rare artefacts of gold, bronze and jade; and includes one of the world’s most extensive collections of Chinese ceramics. More than 900 works of art are on loan from Palace Museum in Beijing, which is the first time the Palace Museum has ever loaned works to another cultural institution outside mainland China since its establishment. There are also 13 prized pieces borrowed from the Louvre on display.

Visitors can spend the day browsing its gallery and exhibition spaces, browse the gift shop, take in the views of Hong Kong’s harbour or dine at one of its three onsite eateries.

Design and architecture

HKPM has been designed by Rocco Design Architects Associates Limited and is a contemporary interpretation of classic and traditional Chinese aesthetics. A series of linked courtyards and a vertical series of atriums are designed to draw visitors upwards to take in the views of Hong Kong’s skyline and Lantau Island.

Nine exhibition galleries span 7,800 square metres; while presentations can be hosted in a 400-seat auditorium.