Hong Kong's striking and controversial Cultural Centre lies just a short distance from the Star Ferry Pier, making it one of the first things you see in Kowloon after crossing from Hong Kong Island. 

Within or close to its confines lie two of the area's outstanding sights - the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Space Museum: the $600 million landmark building, however, deserves attention in its own right. 

The centre was opened in 1989 by Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and it replaced the old Kowloon-Canton Railway Station, torn down in 1978. The new building created immediate uproar owing to its pink colour and its almost total lack of windows. The latter was an extra-ordinary architectural omission, particularly given a waterfront position, which would have yielded some of the city's most fabulous views. Time has now tempered some of the initial criticism, and allowed the realisation to sink in that the building's magnificent modern interior serves its purpose well.