Sam Tung Uk Museum

The Sam Tung Uk Museum (zh-t|t=三棟屋博物館) was restored from Sam Tung Uk (literally "three-beam-dwelling", which describes the original floorplan), a Hakka walled village in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

History

It was built by a Chan(陳Hakka dialect,pronounced as:tshin) clan under the leadership of the clan patriarch, Chan Yam-shing, in 1786 (during the reign of Emperor Qianlong). The Chan clan was originally from Fujian; they had moved to Guangdong, and then to Hong Kong to engage in farming. The site has been carefully restored and opened to the public as a museum.

Sam Tung Uk was vacated in April 1980 and declared an historic monument in March 1981. The Government funded its restoration and converted it into a museum between 1986 and 1987. The restoration work won the Pacific Heritage Award of the Pacific Asia Tourist Association in 1990.

Museum

The entrance, assembly and ancestral halls, and twelve of the original houses are preserved. Other rooms have been modified to accommodate a reception area, an orientation room, an exhibition hall, a museum office, and a lecture theatre. The agricultural implements and everyday objects of Hakka village life are on permanent display. The main exhibition hall at the far end of the building complex changes its displays approximately every six months. Documentation of the restoration process is on display in Orientation Room.

The Sam Tung Uk Museum is open from 09:00 to 17:00 every day of the year except Tuesdays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, and the first three days of the Lunar New Year. Admission is free of charge. It can be accessed from the MTR Tsuen Wan Station. The house is located at 2 Kwu Uk Lane, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

Transportation

*By rail: Mass Transit Railway to Tsuen Wan Station

*By bus:Kowloon Motor Bus nos. 40, 43X, 48X, 49X, 52M, 57M, 58M, 59A, 60, 63M, 66, 67M, 68A, 69M,73X, 278P, A31, or City Bus no. 905R

References

* [http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_10.php Declared Monuments in Hong Kong - New Territories]

External links

* [http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/english/branch_sel_stu.htm Sam Tung Uk Museum]
* [http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/hongkong/SAMTUNGUK.htm Chinese Architecture: Sam Tung Uk house, Hong Kong]