Colorful celebrations for new year

Hong Kong is set to celebrate the Chinese New Year Carnival between February 10 to 14 to welcome in the Year of the Horse with a major New Year Parade and neon greeting cards adorning the sides of skyscrapers, according to an advance document from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

A cavalcade of elaborate floats, costumed performers, local and overseas cultural troupes, musicians and marching bands will take to the streets on February 12 to present an exciting visual extravaganza of bouncing and dancing on the street starting from the Tamar site in Central.

Besides, Hong Kong's New Year wish for a bright future will also be summed up the Chinese New Year Fireworks Display due to take place on February 13. The fireworks will be lighting up the harbor front buildings on Kowloon side and along the entire northern shore of Hong Kong Island.

Chinese New Year horseracing will take place at the Sha Tin Racecourse on February 14, while the New Year Soccer Tournament will take place at Hong Kong Stadium on February 12 and 15.

More tourist attractions

Department stores will hold Chinese New Year sales, offering shoppers bargains with their long-held tradition of "out with the old, in with the new" motto. The festive discounts are usually substantial, often topping 50 percent, according to the board.

Meanwhile, tourists can now view national flag raising ceremony on Bauhinia Square outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center Extension held on a daily basis. Starting from the beginning of this year, the ceremony is held at 8 o'clock every morning.

But a more solemn and grand ceremony characterized by the presence of a silver band of Hong Kong policemen dressed in western martial uniforms and playing the Chinese Anthem will be held on the first Sunday of every month.

With tourists from China's mainland accounting for the majority of the visitors to Hong Kong, in order to attract even more from the mainland to come here, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) has proposed that the government's renovation of certain sight-seeing spots be necessary.

( January 09, 2002)