July 1 | Two West Kowloon museums offer free admission; the Palace Museum requires advance reservation; many people had trouble getting in—turning up only to run into closed doors

Today is July 1. The West Kowloon Cultural District is offering free admission to the public for the designated exhibitions at the Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+, respectively. For the M+ exhibitions, you can enter by lining up, while the Hong Kong Palace Museum requires advance booking. However, many residents did not pay attention in time, and as a result, some people arrived today and “found out at the door.” Some residents hope that next time, they can “explain it more clearly.”

Residents: “We originally thought we’d come just because it’s free to take a look.”

Mr. Tam originally planned to visit the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the afternoon. He said, “I thought I’d stop by and take a look for free.” But only after arriving did he learn that advance reservation was required. He hopes that next time it will be explained more clearly: “I only saw that Halls 1 to 7 are free—lots of people are like that and don’t know, so it’s not clear.” As for today being a holiday, Mr. Tam said he did not have any special arrangements: “I just woke up, ate, and had nowhere to go, so I thought I’d come for a walk. But in the end, I couldn’t get in—what a wasted trip.” He said that next he plans to go to M+, where no reservation is needed, and maybe take a stroll around the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Mr. Cheng also brought his 7-year-old daughter today, planning to visit the Palace Museum during the holiday. He said bluntly that he had already planned to buy tickets on site: “Anyway, I definitely knew there wouldn’t be any free tickets—the number of places is so small.” In the end, not only were there no free tickets, but the crowd was also larger than expected. So he decided to come back on a weekday: “Since I have to buy a ticket anyway, I might as well come again next Monday—there’ll definitely be fewer people.” Mr. Cheng added that after that he would go to M+, and then accompany his daughter to the cinema to watch the Minions movie.

Some residents bought tickets and still went in to see the Egyptian special exhibition

The Yang family visited the Palace Museum today for the Egyptian special exhibition. Mr. Yang said they had already bought tickets early, as a family activity for today’s holiday: “It’s a chance to learn about different local cultures.” His son, who is in Grade 5, said that when he was in Grade 3, he learned about Egyptian culture and has been very interested in it. However, with the museum offering free admission today, it was packed with people. Mr. Yang said he did not expect that, but he also said he understood. He added that he is usually very busy with work, so only today’s holiday allowed him to go out together with the children: “It just happened to be such a day with so many people—what can you do?” He also believed that although today’s permanent exhibitions were free, special exhibitions such as the Egyptian exhibition still required tickets, so the crowds inside the exhibition halls should be fewer.

M+ free entry; residents say it’s very different from traditional exhibits

Another museum, M+, does not require reservations for entry, attracting many residents to queue, and at one point there was even a line of people outside. Mr. Zhou, who occasionally visits art museums, came to M+ for the first time today. He said the exhibits at M+ were “very different” from traditional museums, and that traditional history and modern art each have their own supporters. He joked that compared with the Palace Museum’s cultural relics, he actually preferred the Palace Museum’s exhibits, saying that “modern art isn’t that easy to understand, nor that easy to appreciate.” So today he came with the mindset of “just to observe.” As for today’s free admission, Mr. Zhou said there were fewer people than he expected, and the queue situation was also better than he imagined.

Classmate Quan from primary three also visited M+ today with his mother. The exhibits were profound, and Quan said frankly, “I don’t understand it, but I like it.” Since today was a free-admission day, Quan also felt that “there are a lot of people” in the museum, but fortunately the space was spacious and he did not feel overly crowded. He also said this was not his first visit to M+, but he still felt a sense of novelty.

Also this afternoon, at the East Coast Boardwalk, some visitors “formed groups” and waved national flags to celebrate the July 1 handover, attracting many onlookers.