Hong Kong Museum of Art

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is the city's oldest public art museum and, since a major renovation and expansion reopened it in 2019, one of its most rewarding. It sits on Salisbury Road at the start of the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, next to the Space Museum and the Cultural Centre, and general admission is free, with fees charged only for some special exhibitions. The renovation added a new wing and opened up the building to the waterfront, so several galleries now have large windows looking straight across Victoria Harbour to the Hong Kong Island skyline, and the views alone justify a visit. The collection has several strands. Chinese antiquities include ceramics, bronzes, jade and decorative arts. The Chinese painting and calligraphy galleries draw on important collections donated to the museum, with works from the classical tradition through to modern ink painting. The historical pictures collection is a delight for anyone interested in the city's past: oil paintings, watercolours and prints made for Western merchants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, showing Canton, Macau and early Hong Kong, the harbour full of junks and clipper ships, and daily life on the South China coast. The Hong Kong art galleries trace the development of local artists from the twentieth century to the present. On top of the permanent displays, the museum mounts a busy programme of temporary exhibitions, often in partnership with major international museums. The museum opens late on weekends and public holidays and is closed on Thursdays, except public holidays. It is an ideal stop on a hot or rainy day in Tsim Sha Tsui, and because entry is free you can drop in for an hour between other plans without feeling you need to see everything.

How to visit: enter from Salisbury Road or from the promenade side. Pick up a floor plan and decide which strands interest you most: first-time visitors with limited time should prioritise the historical pictures of the China trade, which explain how Hong Kong began, and the galleries with harbour windows. Lovers of Chinese art should allow time for the painting and calligraphy and the antiquities. Check the website for current special exhibitions, which may require a ticket. Allow one to two hours.

Practical details: opening hours are generally from mid-morning to early evening on weekdays, with late opening on weekends and public holidays; the museum is closed on Thursdays except public holidays, and on the first two days of Lunar New Year. The box office closes thirty minutes before the museum. There is a museum shop and a cafe, and the building is fully accessible. Photography without flash is generally allowed in the permanent galleries; rules for special exhibitions vary.

Pairing: the Museum of Art is the anchor of a cultural afternoon in Tsim Sha Tsui. Combine it with the Space Museum next door, a walk along the promenade and the Avenue of Stars, and a Star Ferry crossing to Central. Art lovers can make a full day of it by adding M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District, a short taxi or bus ride away, to see the city's three major museums in one trip.