Exhibition "The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration" Opens in Hong Kong Today

"The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration" exhibition opens

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled "The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration" was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. The exhibition is jointly organised by the Development Bureau (DEVB) and the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA). It features significant archaeological finds unearthed on the Chinese Mainland and in Hong Kong, showcasing the dynamic and innovative Han dynasty, a golden era that made profound contributions to promoting exchanges between Chinese and Western civilisations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said that the Han and Tang dynasties were both golden eras in Chinese history, leaving behind a wealth of important historical legacies for the Chinese nation. Following the success of the "Tang Vogue Beyond the Horizons: A Golden Era of Multicultural Integration and Openness" exhibition jointly organised by the DEVB and the NCHA last year, both parties collaborated again to present a large-scale Han dynasty-themed artefact exhibition this year. She eagerly anticipates that through these precious artefacts, members of the public and tourists will learn more about the glorious history of the Han dynasty and appreciate the remarkable virtues of traditional Chinese culture. They will also discover a fresh perspective through the narratives conveyed by the artefacts from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.

Other officiating guests at the opening ceremony of the exhibition were the Director of Art Exhibitions China, Mr Tan Ping; the Second-level Inspector of the Department of Publicity, Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Chen Xinyu; the Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Professor Desmond Hui; and the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation, Professor Douglas So.

The exhibition is presented in six thematic sections, covering political system, economic development, culture and beliefs, scientific and technological development, social life and external exchanges. It features 252 pieces/sets of invaluable exhibits. Among them, 203 pieces/sets, including 40 grade-one cultural relics, come from 29 museums and cultural institutions in 14 provinces and autonomous regions on the Chinese Mainland, and most of them are being shown in Hong Kong for the first time. The remaining 49 pieces/sets are significant archaeological finds dating to the Han period unearthed in Hong Kong, painstakingly selected by the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the DEVB.

The star exhibits from the Chinese Mainland highlight the Han precious bronze horse-leading figurine and bronze horse; an eaves end tile with Chinese characters Han Bing Tian Xia (Han unifies the realm); a seven-storey painted pottery granary house with linked pavilion; the Yi Li (Etiquette and rites) wooden slips, a bronze fang vessel of Inner Treasury of Zhongshan, a gold linzhi hoof, the silk letter from Yuan to Zifang and arithmetical slips unearthed at the Xuanquan relay station site in Dunhuang; a silk manuscript of Yinyang Wuxing (Yinyang and the Five Elements) Article B; a silk padded robe with Chang Shou (longevity) embroidery on a crimson purple juan (plain weave silk) ground; gloves with lozenge pattern; padded socks; and a lacquered wooden plate with leopard cat motif and Chinese characters Jun Xing Shi (food for the honoured guest) and a silver box with garlic pattern. Other exhibits cover a variety of categories, ranging from Han bamboo slips, coins, bronze vessels, clothes and ornaments to pottery figurines, pottery houses and agricultural tools, which present the daily lives of various social strata in the Han period.

The key exhibits unearthed in Hong Kong include a pottery house unearthed at Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb, as well as the Han period artefacts excavated at local significant archaeological sites such as Tung Wan Tsai in Ma Wan, So Kwun Wat in Tuen Mun and Kau Sai Chau in Sai Kung, covering Wuzhu bronze coins, a textile fragment, a stone seal, a bronze ear-cup, jade slotted rings and glass beads. These relics reflect that the Han culture had long been rooted in Hong Kong, and showcase the city's connection with the country, the pluralistic nature of the Chinese culture and Hong Kong's links with the early Maritime Silk Road trade.

Admission to the exhibition is free. Details are as follows:

Date: March 20 to September 20

Opening hours:

Monday to Wednesday and Friday: 10am to 6pm

Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10am to 7pm

Closed on Thursdays (except public holidays)

Venue: Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre, Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Note: Docent services in Cantonese, Putonghua and English are available on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Enrolment on-site is welcome and no advance booking is required.

For more details about the exhibition and docent services, as well as a highlight video of the exhibition, please visit the Antiquities and Monuments Office website (www.amo.gov.hk/en/visitor-centre/exhibitions/heritage-discovery-centre/han-exhibition/index.html).

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a Wuzhu bronze coin unearthed at the So Kwun Wat site in Tuen Mun. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a pottery house unearthed at Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb in Hong Kong. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a silver box with garlic pattern. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a lacquered wooden plate with leopard cat motif and Chinese characters Jun Xing Shi (food for the honoured guest). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a silk-padded robe with Chang Shou (longevity) embroidery on a crimson-purple juan (plain weave silk) ground. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the arithmetical slips unearthed at the Xuanquan relay station site in Dunhuang. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the silk letter from Yuan to Zifang unearthed at the Xuanquan relay station site in Dunhuang. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Yi Li (Etiquette and rites) wooden slips. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows a seven‑storey painted pottery granary house with linked pavilion. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows an eaves end tile with Chinese characters Han Bing Tian Xia (Han unifies the realm). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Han precious bronze horse-leading figurine and bronze horse. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn (right); the Director of Art Exhibitions China, Mr Tan Ping (centre); and other guests, touring the exhibition. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn (first right); the Director of Art Exhibitions China, Mr Tan Ping (second right); the Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Professor Desmond Hui (second left); and the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation, Professor Douglas So (first left), touring the exhibition. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Director of Art Exhibitions China, Mr Tan Ping, delivering a speech at the opening ceremony. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, delivering a speech at the opening ceremony. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “The Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration” was held today (March 19) at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Photo shows the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn (centre); the Director of Art Exhibitions China, Mr Tan Ping (second right); the Second-level Inspector of the Department of Publicity, Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Chen Xinyu (second left); the Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Professor Desmond Hui (first right); and the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation, Professor Douglas So (first left), officiating at the opening ceremony. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Development Bureau announces tender result for Hung Shui Kiu pilot area under large-scale land disposal

The Development Bureau (DEVB) announced today (August 24) that the pilot area project under large-scale land disposal located in Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (HSK) in the Northern Metropolis (NM) has the tender assessment completed. With the approval of the Central Tender Board (CTB), the Government decided to award the project to HSK New Development Limited. The successful tenderer scored higher marks than the other tenderer in both non-premium and premium aspects, with an accepted tender price at $1.03 billion.

The six shareholders of the successful tenderer are the subsidiaries of China Overseas Land and Investment Limited, China Merchants Land Limited, China Resources Land Limited, China Tourism Group Corporation Limited, JD.com, Inc. (JD) and Sino Land Company Limited respectively.

The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said, "The HSK pilot area is the first tender project under large-scale land disposal in the NM, covering a total area of nearly 11 hectares. It is a project of considerable scale with a long investment period. The consortium of the successful tenderer encompasses not only major enterprises that have long participated in local real estate development, but also market leaders that are well-established in other industries with undeniable experience and capability. This demonstrates that a large-scale land disposal project can facilitate co-operation across different business sectors. The six enterprises pool their strengths and join forces to cast a vote of confidence in the NM through concrete actions, setting a new course for the diversified development models in the NM."

The DEVB said that the successful tenderer will be responsible for forming and developing three residential sites, on which some 3 000 flats can be built in total (assuming that each flat is about 50 square metres in size), and also complete site formation to build a smart modern logistics centre on an Enterprise and Technology Park (E&TP) site of permissible gross floor area (GFA) up to 50 950 square metres. The centre will adopt modern and quality design with JD stationing as the leading enterprise. It will commence operation with no less than 15 300 square metres of GFA within 55 months, faster than the minimum requirement of 96 months in the tender documents. The mentioned three residential sites and one E&TP site (namely HSK Town Lot Nos. 18 to 21), with a total area of about 3.6 hectares, will be leased to the successful tenderer for a term of 50 years.

The successful tenderer will also be responsible for forming various remaining sites in the HSK pilot area. Amongst them, two E&TP sites (namely HSK Town Lot Nos. 23 and 24, about 4.5 hectares) and one "Government, Institution or Community" site (about 0.6 hectares) for government facility shall have the site formation completed and handed back to the Government by end 2028. Besides, the successful tenderer will construct an open space, a pedestrian street and a footpath, which need to be completed and handed back to the Government no later than 2030 to 2033 by batches.

Ms Linn said, "After the successful tenderer completes the site formation and hands back the sites to the Government, the Government will grant the two mentioned E&TP sites of 4.5 hectares directly to Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company Limited (the Park Company), which is wholly owned by the Government, for development of superstructure and operation. The size of sites granted to the Park Company at a nominal land premium for a term of 50 years will increase by 20 per cent, previously from 23 hectares to 27.5 hectares, which facilitates the introduction of industries with a competitive edge to the NM. This land grant arrangement also enables the Park Company to start working on attracting investments and enterprises for the additional sites, so that enterprises may settle in early after completion of site formation in 2028."

As estimated by the successful tenderer, the implementation of the whole large-scale land disposal project involves an investment of about $16.8 billion, and is anticipated to create over 6 000 employment opportunities.

The successful tenderer will need to enter into a service deed with the Government, submit a performance guarantee and arrange for a bank bond within 14 days, with a view to ensuring the timely implementation of the non-premium proposal and various requirements. As the successful tenderer has not elected to pay land premium in instalments and will settle the accepted tender price in full within 28 days, the Government can receive the full amount of the tender early.

The Northern Metropolis Project Supervision Office established by the DEVB earlier will render full support to the successful tenderer in taking forward the HSK pilot area project to expedite its implementation.

To develop the HSK pilot area, the Government has adopted a two-envelope approach in the tender, with the weighting for premium proposal at 30 per cent and non-premium proposal at 70 per cent. The assessment criteria for non-premium proposal focus on the development of the E&TP sites, including whether strategic industries are developed, whether leading enterprises are introduced, development speed, investment scale, employment opportunities to be created, etc., with a view to attracting high-quality enterprises to establish their presence in the HSK pilot area and promoting the development of industry chains.

The Government launched the open tender on December 30, 2025, which closed on July 3, 2026 with two tenders received. After the Tender Assessment Panel (TAP) assessed the tenders in accordance with the marking scheme in the tender documents, HSK New Development Limited attained the highest marks for both its premium and non-premium proposals with an overall score of 100. The TAP recommended to the CTB to accept the relevant tender, and the recommendation was approved.

Source: AI-found images