The Coca-Cola Museum in Hong Kong Opens to the Public for the First Time; Guided Tours can be Booked Online from February 12th

The grand opening ceremony of the Swire Coca-Cola HK 60th Anniversary Finale: "The Bottling Hunt" Celebration was held on February 9th. The newly upgraded Coca-Cola Museum in Hong Kong will open to the public for the first time, with three guided tours scheduled for March 7th (Saturday). Registration for the public can be applied online from 2 pm on February 12th (Thursday).

The Coca-Cola Museum in Hong Kong, Photo by Bastille Post

Photo by Bastille Post

The guided tours will combine a novel time-travel experience with innovative interactive elements, focusing on the theme "Made in Hong Kong," reviewing the growth of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong alongside Hong Kong, and looking towards a sustainable future for the brand.

Photo by Bastille Post

The opening ceremony was officiated by Mr. Gam Jik, the CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (third from the left); Mr.Richard Gould, the Director and General Manager of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong (second from the left); and Ms. Wai Gaa-lam, the Vice President of Marketing for Coca-Cola in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Mongolia (third from the right), etc. Photo by Bastille Post

Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, in conjunction with Coca-Cola's brand membership program COKE+®️, will launch a redemption program, offering more residents the opportunity to participate in the guided tours and receive exclusive souvenirs, which can allow them to learn firsthand about the local beverage production process and how the brand has developed alongside the city. The brand hopes that the Coca-Cola Museum will transform the previous childhood memories into a platform for community, education, and business exchange, further deepening its close ties with Hong Kong.

Mr. Gam Jik, Photo by Bastille Post

Mr. Gam Jik, the CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, said, "Since commencing bottling operations in Hong Kong in 1965, Swire Coca-Cola has grown from a local company to Coca-Cola's fifth largest bottling partner globally, serving more than one-tenth of the world's population. Hong Kong is not only a starting point for our brand's development, but also the core of our innovation and heritage." Looking ahead, Mr. Gam indicated that Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong will continue to optimize its facilities to produce high-quality beverages, reaching into communities and building a world-class bottling business by 2026.

Mr. Richard Gould, Photo by Bastille Post

Mr. Richard Gould, the Director and General Manager of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, stated that the brand will continue to grow alongside Hong Kong residents towards a more sustainable future: "From October 2025, the plastic bottles used for Swire Coca-Cola's locally produced 500ml Coca-Cola beverages and Bonaqua mineral water (1.5 liters or less) have primarily been made from locally recycled plastic, achieving a 'recycled locally, remanufactured locally' circular model. We also plan to continue leading Hong Kong by 2026, ensuring that over 50% of the packaging in the market uses recycled plastic (rPET), further consolidating our leadership in environmental protection and the circular economy." He added that education is also key to promoting sustainable development. In addition to promoting related concepts through museums, the brand will also collaborate with Coca-Cola to launch the learning resources of "Coca-Cola Recycling Academy", bringing recycling and sustainable development concepts into classrooms and communities to encourage environmental practices.

The Coca-Cola Museum in Hong Kong, Photo by Bastille Post

Photo by Bastille Post

Photo by Bastille Post

The opening ceremony was officiated by Mr. Gam Jik, the CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; Mr.Richard Gould, the Director and General Manager of Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong; and Ms. Wai Gaa-lam, the Vice President of Marketing for Coca-Cola in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Mongolia. They invited residents to step into the "Made in Hong Kong" factory and experience the refreshing taste firsthand.

The Coca-Cola Museum in Hong Kong, Photo by Bastille Post

Photo by Bastille Post

Photo by Bastille Post

Details of the Guided Tour of the Swire Coca-Cola HK 60th Anniversary Finale: "The Bottling Hunt" Celebration

Date: March 7, 2026 (Saturday)

Location: Swire Coca-Cola HK (Ltd.), 17-19 Yuen Shun Circuit, Sha Tin, New Territories

Time:
Session 1: 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Session 2: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Session 3: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

How to Participate: Online registration opens at 2:00 PM on February 12, 2026 （https://thebottlinghuntbyswirecocacola.ievent.hk）

*Limited to 30 people per session, first-come, first-served.

WASHINGTON (AP) — What started as a widely backed proposal to locate a new Smithsonian American Women's History Museum on the National Mall devolved into a partisan fight Thursday after Republicans revised the legislation to ensure no transgender people are included in the exhibits.

The House rejected the bill, 204-216, an outcome that leaves the next steps uncertain. The revised bill also would ban a “diversity” of views and give President Donald Trump the final say on where the museum would be located.

“It was a simple bill. You kind of ruined it with your trans obsession and your culture wars,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico and chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said earlier in the week.

But Republicans argued it was Democrats who were overreacting to the changes and now threatening progress toward establishing the long-sought women's museum in the nation's capital.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, the bill's chief sponsor, said “it's a disgrace” that Democrats would be standing in the way of the bill's passage.

“Perhaps the party that is opposing a women’s history museum on the National Mall because they want to have transgender exhibits — maybe they are the ones who are trans obsessed,” Malliotakis said.

In the final tally, a handful of Republicans voted against the bill, joining Democrats who led the opposition. The chamber came to a standstill as GOP leaders scrounged for support from their ranks.

Among the Republican opponents, some conservatives simply disapproved of a museum focused on women at all.

"We say we need to unite this country, but then we isolate every group,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who was among several from the conservative Freedom Caucus who voted against it.

The turn of events puts at risk the long effort to open a museum in Washington dedicated to women. Legislation authorizing the museum was approved during Trump's first term, in 2020, and this latest bill would secure its location on the National Mall. Trump has taken interest in reshaping the capital's cultural institutions, from the Kennedy Center to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

At the start of the year, the bill had secured some 230 sponsors, a rare show of bipartisanship in the split House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. But because of the changes to the bill, the Democratic Women's Caucus opposed the final version, and Democratic leaders encouraged a no vote.

“A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man,” the leaders of the women's caucus said in a statement. “Republicans traded the representation of women for Trump’s gain and ego. It’s as embarrassing as it is disappointing.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the changes shouldn't be controversial, but his effort to pass the bill with Republicans alone over the objections of Democrats failed.

“Why are they backing out? Simply because the bill reinforces an objective truth that a museum for women, get ready, should showcase only women,” said Johnson, R-La.

On Thursday, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said she brought her young daughter, Augusta, to the chamber to see history being made.

“Biological women deserve to have their stories told,” Cammack said, holding her child during her speech.

But Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, said the Republicans ditched the bipartisan bill for one favored by Trump's White House.

Initially presented as a step toward securing the museum's location, the legislation was revised during a committee vote last month in several ways.

One change added a mission scope that states, “The Museum shall be dedicated to preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements, and lived experiences of biological women in the United States.”

It also adds a prohibition which states, "The Museum may not identify, present, describe, or otherwise depict any biological male as a female.”

Another change added specific detail about where the museum would be located on the mall — near 14th Street Southwest and Jefferson Drive, "except that the President may designate an alternative site for the Museum within 180 days of the date of the enactment of this subsection.”

Democrats said that the provision change gives Trump the authority to decide where the museum would ultimately go. “And we do not agree with that,” said Leger Fernandez.

But Republicans argued that the provision is simply a fail-safe in the event there's any problem with the proposed site to ensure the museum can move ahead.

An additional revision this week removed the word “diversity," saying instead the museum's organizing council should ensure a “range” of political viewpoints and experiences.

“I just think it’s ridiculous that we are arguing over this,” said Malliotakis.

She said it's bothering Democrats that it will be Trump who breaks ground on the museum, “but that’s the reality.”

Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Joey Cappelletti and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

The U.S. Capitol is seen as cars drive on Pennsylvania Avenue, during rush hour, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)