Having spent almost 60 years at the bottom of the Yangtse River, one of China's earliest gunboats is to rise to its full glory to a Hong Kong audience.
Until April 21, the Zhong Shan gunboat, which was sunk in 1938 by Japanese fighter planes during China's war of resistance against Japan, will go on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence in Shau Kei Wan.
The gunboat, along with more than 50 artefacts with texts and historic photos, will form the museum's new exhibition entitled 'Cultural Relics of the Zhong Shan Gunboat'.
Originally named Yong Feng, the gunboat was ordered from Japan by the Qing court in 1910 in a bid to strengthen the mainland's navy.
It commenced service in Shanghai in March 1913, almost 18 months after Dr Sun Yat-sen founded the Republic of China.
It joined Dr Sun in Guangzhou when he initiated the Northern Expedition against the warlords in 1917, and took him to safety during the 1922 mutiny led by warlord Chen Jiongming.