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Advance tickets for "The Majesty of All Under Heaven: The Eternal Realm of China's First Emperor", the largest-ever Qin relics exhibition to be held in Hong Kong starting late July, will be put on sale in three phases at URBTIX outlets and the Hong Kong Museum of History's box office from tomorrow (July 9) onwards.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Museum of History said today (July 8), "the exhibition, which will run from July 25 to November 26 at the museum, features 120 items of cultural relics from the Qin dynasty, including 20 terracotta figures of different types and 45 Grade I relics, enabling visitors an opportunity to get a comprehensive understanding of the history of Qin dynasty and the terracotta army.
"Another highlight of the exhibition will be the application of advance multi-media technology to introduce Qin history and culture, and to reconstruct the magnificent scene of the terracotta army, to show how the terracotta figures were made, damaged, discovered and conserved. Meanwhile, it will enable visitors to learn more about Qin dynasty and the terracotta figures. Educational yet entertaining, the exhibition will ensure visitors a brand new viewing experience.
"In view of its ground-breaking scale, we expect this mega exhibition on terracotta warriors will receive overwhelming response from the public. To enable visitors to see the exhibition in a comfortable environment, the museum have adopted special measures on viewing and ticketing arrangements," the spokesman said.
During the exhibition period starting July 25, the Hong Kong Museum of History will extend its daily opening hours from 9am to 10.30pm with scheduled viewing sessions. There will be 17 viewing sessions a day and each session will last one and a half hours. Each session will accommodate 230 visitors. The first session will start at 9am while the last admission will be at 9pm. Except for public holidays, the exhibition gallery will be closed on Tuesdays, the museum's rest day, for cleansing and maintenance work.
Admission to the exhibition is $10 per session for all visitors. Children under four years old are entitled to free admission when accompanied by adult. As it is a special exhibition, free admission on Wednesdays and concession tickets are not applicable.
To allow visitors ample time to plan and arrange their visit schedule, and to avoid tickets for popular time slots selling out too quickly, admission tickets will be sold in three phases as follows:
* Phase 1: from July 9 (for dates from July 25 to September 2)
* Phase 2: from August 20 (for dates from September 3 to October 14)
* Phase 3: from September 24 (for dates from October 15 to November 26)
The spokesman noted that the exhibition is rich in content and straddles the summer holidays, so large number of visitors are expected. Visitors are advised to book tickets of preferred sessions in advance through URBTIX, and make good use of their visiting time by coming on time.
Tickets will be available through counter booking from the first day of each phase. Internet booking via URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk) and credit card telephone booking (tel: 2111 5999) will be available from the second day of sale (i.e. July 10, August 21 and September 25) onwards. A handling charge will be payable for URBTIX Internet ticketing and credit card telephone booking at $6.5 per ticket, or up to a maximum of $20 per order, for a maximum of 40 tickets per purchase. Tickets can be delivered by post or collected at URBTIX outlets with the credit card used for booking. The spokesman reminded interested parties that such handling charges are non-refundable.
A quota of at least 30 free vouchers per viewing session will be reserved for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) Museum Pass holders. The free vouchers for Museum Pass holders will be distributed at the museum in four slots commencing at 8.45am, 11.45am, 2.45pm and 5.45pm respectively for viewing sessions between two slots (free vouchers for the last viewing sessions of the day will be distributed at 5.45pm) on a first-come-first-served basis. Interested parties can purchase an LCSD Museum Pass at the seven major museums under the LCSD, namely the Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum, Hong Kong Science Museum and Hong Kong Space Museum.
With the sponsorship from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, schools and registered non-profit-making organisations can apply for free admission along with docent service and free coach service for group visits of 20 or more people during day-time and non-public-holiday sessions. Applications should be made two weeks before their visits and processed on a first-come-first-served basis. Application forms can be downloaded from the exhibition website at firstemperor.lcsd.gov.hk.
For details of ticketing arrangements and ticket sales updates, please visit the exhibition website at firstemperor.lcsd.gov.hk or call the museum (tel: 2724 9042) or URBTIX (tel: 2734 9009) for enquiries.
The museum has launched a thematic website (firstemperor.lcsd.gov.hk) and used various communication channels such as Facebook, Twitter, smartphone apps, QR codes and more to enable visitors to obtain exhibition information easily.
Jointly presented by the LCSD and the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the exhibition is co-organised by the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust is the sole sponsor of the exhibition. It is one of the highlight programmes to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Hong Kong Museum of History is located at 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Its website is hk.history.museum. For enquiries, please call 2724 9042.
Ends/Sunday, July 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:00
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