You Don’t Always Find What You Are Looking For Right Away, But Eventually You Find It.

We didn’t quite trust the weather forecast, or more importantly, the skies, after our downpour.  So after lunch, we grabbed our umbrellas from our hotel room (thus guaranteeing no more rain) and walked the required 0.7 miles to the highly-touted Hong Kong History Museum.

Both Bill and Ava had recommended it, with Bill noting that it is a perfect way to spend a rainy day.

(As this is the second time I’ve mentioned her, I’d be remiss in not providing more context on Ava.  We became friend with Ava and her husband Arthur on our REI hiking trip of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain a few years ago.  Arthur grew up in Hong Kong.  Like us, they are enthusiastic travelers.  We haven’t seen them since that trip in 2017, as they live in NoCal, but every so often Ava and I exchange emails about their trips and our trips.)

At first we were let down by the museum.  But not the price.  The price is free, so that’s cheap.  We went to the exhibits as directed.  The first part of the museum covered the geologic history of Hong Kong, which would have been interesting if it was of interest to us.  We decided it wasn’t for us – so we moved along quickly, skipping the next two uninteresting sections before we came to Part 4, the Folklife of the Native People’s Section. 

That was pretty fascinating.  After finishing that, based on the signs, we thought we were done.  Then, Carol noticed signs for upstairs.  Sections 5-8 covered the more recent history of Hong Kong, starting with the Opium Wars, colonial Hong Kong, the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II (spoiler alert – it wasn’t a good time), and then post-war Hong Kong, covering the boom under British rule and the handover to the Chinese.  It was the “lease” the Brits could do.

(Editor’s Note: That’s actually funny!).

Anyhow, the museum was pretty interesting, but it made you work.  Displays were in these huge halls, and there wasn’t a flow.  Hallways and rooms took you in different directions, although eventually you could work it out.

To me, the most interesting part with the Japanese occupation and the post-way boom that put Hong Kong on the road to what it is today.

Before we came to Hong Kong, neither Carol nor I knew a lot about the history of the area.  Now we have a better sense of it, although don’t test us on it.  We hoofed it back to the hotel, trusty umbrellas in our backpacks, as no rain dared fall.