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West Kowloon Cultural District
Hong KongHong Kong Economy

Hong Kong’s HK$3.5 billion Palace Museum replica gets June 2022 opening date, hopes to bring major historical pieces to city

  • The highly touted project, which broke ground in May 2018, is intended to showcase Chinese culture at the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District
  • Board member says new museum’s curators have been in talks with Beijing counterparts about showcasing exhibits never before seen in Hong Kong

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Aerial view of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which is under construction at the West Kowloon Cultural District. Photo: Winson Wong
Kanis Leung
A Hong Kong version of Beijing’s Palace Museum – located in the heart of the Forbidden City – will make its debut in June 2022, the mainland attraction’s director has said, moving the city’s troubled art hub a step closer to its goal of simultaneously showcasing both Western and Chinese culture.
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Two Hong Kong sources confirmed the opening on Wednesday, while a West Kowloon Cultural District Authority board member said curators for the local project were in talks with Beijing about the possibility of showcasing exhibits not previously displayed in the city.

The Beijing venue’s director, Wang Xudong, revealed the date in the museum’s publication while citing his colleague’s collaboration with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in strengthening the cohesion of Chinese culture.

Wang Xudong, director of Beijing’s Palace Museum, recently tipped the opening of Hong Kong’s version of the attraction. Photo: Dickson Lee
Wang Xudong, director of Beijing’s Palace Museum, recently tipped the opening of Hong Kong’s version of the attraction. Photo: Dickson Lee

“The Palace Museum first signed an exchange and collaborative agreement with Hong Kong’s … Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2012 and had the groundbreaking ceremony of the Hong Kong Palace Museum in May 2018. [It is] expected to officially open at the end of June in 2022,” he said in the article, which ran in full on the website of People’s Daily, a government mouthpiece.

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In 2016, the city signed a HK$3.5 billion (US$451 million) deal with Beijing to create a replica of the capital’s celebrated Palace Museum at the West Kowloon Cultural District.

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