This gallery comprises two areas : "Landform and Climate" and "Flora and Fauna". Inside the gallery entrance is a globe, which enables visitors to locate China and Hong Kong. Beyond the globe is a tunnel of time paved with pseudo stone slabs; the walls, made from casts taken from rocks in nature, look deceptively real. In this area, rocks and fossils are used to demonstrate the topography of Hong Kong through the succession of geological periods in the last 400 million years. A theatre wraps up the immense geological changes of Hong Kong with special lava effects creating the illusion of a primeval universe.

Emerging from the narrow tunnel, visitors are plunged in an instant into a forest of towering trees as high as 18 metres, with many specimens of birds, reptiles and mammals. The sound track of birds chirping and twittering, and animals roaring and grunting creates the reality of nature. This ecosystem in microcosm introduces Hong Kong's flora and fauna of 6,000 years ago and their relationships with the natural environment.

Name of Theatre/Video Show: The Origins of Hong Kong Duration: 8 minutes Capacity: 36 Screened in Cantonese, Putonghua and English by rotation.

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