Hong Kong Palace Museum

The Hong Kong Palace Museum opened in 2022 at the western tip of the West Kowloon Cultural District in a building by Rocco Yim that widens as it rises, finished in ochre and gold with three atriums stacked up its height, each opening to a different view of the city and the harbour. Its purpose is to show material from the Palace Museum in Beijing, whose collection comes from the imperial holdings of the Forbidden City, in rotating loans of several hundred objects at a time: ceramics, jade, painting, calligraphy, court dress, clocks and furniture, arranged in themed galleries with additional exhibitions drawn from elsewhere. Loans rotate, so what is on display changes substantially between visits.

What you actually see

• Imperial collection loans - hundreds of objects from the Palace Museum.
• Court dress, jade and ceramics - the range of the rotating displays.
• Three stacked atriums - each opening onto a different city view.
• The ochre and gold exterior - Rocco Yim's widening form.

When to go

Year round. Half a day. Book online in advance; weekends sell out. Closed Tuesdays. Some special exhibitions need a separate ticket.

Honest expectations

Displays rotate and light-sensitive works are shown only briefly, so a specific object may not be there. Special exhibitions cost extra. It is crowded at weekends and in school holidays. The walk from the MTR is long and exposed.

Nearby

M+ is next door; the West Kowloon waterfront promenade runs east.