hiding from the heat (and rain) at the hong kong museum of history

Last Updated on April 30, 2015

I originally wrote this for Sassy Mama HK, at the start of a very long and very hot summer. Since then we’ve been back again (yes, it was that good) so I’ve made some (hopefully) helpful additions. At long last, the heat seems to be fading away, and before we know where we are we’ll be finding that old, fluff-covered sweet in our winter coat pocket, but I figure this still might be a good adventure to have up your sleeve for a rainy day…

I am constantly amazed and delighted by the range of free/ super cheap things there are in Hong Kong for children – from soft playrooms and brilliantly stocked children’s libraries to quite wonderful swimming pools. Yes, the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department ROCKS (and there is a sentence you don’t hear everyday). But despite all of this, I have to say it wasn’t with the highest of expectations that we embarked on our trip to the Hong Kong Museum of History. We had just been to the Space Museum a few weeks before and it had been, quite frankly, a bit of a disappointment. I mean it was all there: rockets, flight simulators, black holes. How could this not be fun? And yet they had managed to make it feel all a bit sterile and, well, dare-I-say… boring*. It was like the curator had walked a toddler around the entire museum and anything that looked like it may cause a whoop of delight or a moment’s fascination, they had placed just slightly out of reach, or behind Perspex, or both.

However, faced with another skin-melting day, and the fact that we had already been to the toddler-pleasing Science Museum the week before, we thought the History Museum might be worth a shot. The thing was: we knew it was a truly, excellent museum. My friend told me that it was perhaps THE best museum she had ever been to (although in fairness she was from Portland, Oregon, so I figured maybe she didn’t get out much). In fact, one of the first things we did when any out-of-town visitors arrived was to pack them off to the History Museum, and they all would come back raving about it. And yet we had never been. And with an energetic little boy chomping at the bit, we decided, with some trepidation, to find out why…

So, as all parents know, you need to pick your battles – and dragging a 2.5 year old around an exhibit entitled ‘The Dynasties: From the Han to the Qing’ should never, let me repeat that – NEVER – be one of them – but outside of that slight hiccup, the History Museum was really quite great. From tip-toeing through Pre-Historic Hong Kong (spotting tigers and bears in the forests) to being able to jump on and off a life-sized junk (pretending, of course, to be pirates – which I grant you wasn’t strictly historically accurate) there was loads to grab a toddlers’ attention. And that was just the ground floor…Upstairs, my son was able to rekindle his slightly worrying fascination with cannons, run up and down evocative mock-ups of Hong Kong streets, and pretend to drive a tram. We even came close on occasions to reading some of the information boards – although thinking we would be able to read anything to the end was sheer whimsy – and so we contented ourselves with seeing the museum at the break-neck speed of a toddler; getting excited at spotting Chinese dragons, marvelling at huge towers of Chinese buns and fiddling with rows of red letter boxes. All in all, what is nowadays classed as: ‘a top morning out’.

Hits

Okay, so for my toddler it didn’t quite rank up there with Disney, but he still had an interesting and fun couple of hours. Oh and in terms of crowds and price – it beats Disney hands down. There is loads of (air-conditioned) space for little ones to roam – which is always my holy grail in Hong Kong heat – and who knows, perhaps he even learnt something! Although, to be fair, I am not entirely sure what… Super brilliant for older kids!

Misses

So, unless you have one of those demur, cerebral, patient toddlers (in which case – can we swap numbers and do a trade for a week?), don’t go in expecting to learn a whole lot about Hong Kong History. This is a shame, and so I definitely plan to go back for a more in-depth and adult-only trip. Also, we did have to encourage our son’s excitement and interest at the beginning. There were quite a few “Ooooh, look at this” and “Wow- look at that” exclamations needed until our toddler really ‘got’ what a museum was, and that this wasn’t just the pre-amble before we came to a playroom. Although in fairness, once he did realise the potential for imaginative play and general tearing about – he got into it with gusto. But, it is probably good warning, that if you are hoping for a morning with minimal parental input needed (and hey, I’m not judging, we all have those days!) you might be safer heading to a soft playroom.

Oh, and like its next-door neighbour, the Science Museum, it is a little bit of a trek if you are coming from TST MTR, which isn’t ideal if you have to do some toddler carrying.

Hunger pangs?

As you are in the middle of TST, there are heaps of restaurants to choose from. We headed back over to Ocean Terminal along the harbour front to Pizza Express, knowing we’d be on safe ground with the kids menu, booster chairs and stickers (although somewhat strangely they don’t really do kids plates or cutlery, so you might want to bring your own).  With our window seat affording our little boy the opportunity for a little bit of boat watching too, we actually came close to having a fairly unhurried lunch. If you are after something a bit more grown-up in atmosphere, you might also want to consider checking out Brick Lane, which has high chairs, but on a weekend but you’d be best to arrive not long after midday if you want to guarantee yourself a table.

If you are just in need of a caffeine fix, there is a good sized Starbucks around the corner at 100 Granville Road.

Extra stuff:

• Unless you are a total purist, or are there with older kids, I would jump straight from the G1 Natural Environment exhibition to the G4 Folk Culture exhibition on the ground floor.
• If you are lucky with the weather and want to blow away some cobwebs, there is a small playground at Hong Tat Path Garden, 2 minutes walk away. Just head towards to corner of Science Museum Road and Science Museum Path.

Hong Kong History Museum, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon

Open 10.00 – 18.00 weekdays, 10.00 – 19.00 weekends and public holidays, closed Tuesdays (except public holidays).

Standard Ticket – $10, although under 4s are free, and everyone goes free on Wednesdays

To get there either use exit B2 from TST MTR station, exit D1 from Hong Hom MTR or exit P2 from TST East MTR. For a detailed map visit the website.

* I still feel terrible for describing the Space Museum as boring. I am sure if you are going with older kids, or you are a massive space enthusiast, it is knock your teeth out exciting. And anyway, I heard the IMAX cinema there is worth a visit…