Originally Posted By TDLFAN Hello every one... it's July 1st 2007 at approx 9am here in Hong Kong, and today it's the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from UK administration to the People's Republic of China. Right now, the skies are mostly cloudy with some blue and sunshine filtering thru.. but there are also some grey lingering clouds and rain is in the forecast for today. Ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary have already started and a procession of colorful boats seem to be underway on Victoria Harbour. There is police presence all over the city and major roads close to the waterfront in kowloon and HK Island will be closing to vehicular traffic at 6pm today, in anticipation of major crowds showing up for tonight's lavish fireworks display at from 8pm until 8:36pm, over Victoria Harbour. Yours truly will try to catch a glimpse of that show today and report back, but in the meantime, I will stop by HKDL for a few hours today to check out how the park will (or not) benefit from this holiday here in HK, or to see if the folks at HKDL have anything special prepared for guests today (doubtful). We'll see. I know at least CNN international is having periodic live coverage from HK today of all of the special events planned for the day... so you may want to check out your CNN and BBC internationa channels. I will add more info to this topic later tonight... This is TDLFAN reporting live from Hong Kong.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Hello everyone... One quick update on my day.. Spent several hours at HKDL today and now it's about 6:30pm and we are just about 90 mins away from the HUGE fireworks display over Victoria Harbour. Not much going on at HKDL today... business as usual. The park was a bit busy but not crowded at all. All guests entering the park received a souvenir "HK handover 10th anniversary" button. We had several light showers passing over the area around noon-1pm but now, the clouds have parted a bit and there is a bit of blue skies filtering thru the clouds. It should be good weather for the fireworks tonight. The ride on the train back from HKDL... was ..cheek to cheek. Seems like a million people are arriving for the big event tonight and there a lot of police officers everywhere. Roads in the vecinity of my hotel here in Kowloon are closed to vehicular traffic.. And NO, I have not seen any protests of any kind in the city. Everyone seems to be in great spirits. ...And that's it for now. I need to get going so I can at least find a spot for the pyro tonight. It's windy here over the city and hopefully that will help dissipate the smoke from the fireworks show... More on that later tonight! TDLFAN reporting live from HK! Back to the Studios now.. take it away Anderson Cooper..
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Wow dude, that's great . I wish I could be there too . Yeah, I been watching CNN here and they are doing coverage for it all day. Sadly, I will be away when they actually do the big firework ceremony....but I'm sure it will be posted on Youtube in a few hours . I LOVE the internet! Also, I'm sure CNN will play the highlights all night! Wow, to be there on the anniversary is really cool!! I remember when the first handover took place and I remembered thinking, 'Wow, I really want to visit HK one day.' Never thought I get the chance. Now, I been there 10 times lol. Happy handover HK!!!
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>This is TDLFAN reporting live from Hong Kong.<<< LMAO...too funny!! Thanks for brightening my day! Glad you're having a good time, enjoy the fireworks! Were you serious about those pins? That's hilarious, if so. I assume some Hong Kongers (correct phrase please??) are real happy about it, and others are not. But it's quite a commemoration in any case right? As an inside joke, "take it away Anderson Cooper" is VERY funny for a very inside joke reason.
Originally Posted By Mr X To elaborate about whether this is a happy or worried kind of occasion...I can imagine that some residents did not care for having their city go from under the governance of a distant but democratic power to a close by communist regime. But, on the other hand, China DOES seem to be keeping its distance as promised, and it's a reunfication of sorts, mostly in a positive way (at least, considering what little I know of Hong Kong and its' internal workings).
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I am back, live from HK. I just got back from the AWESOME fireworks show over Victoria Harbor! It was 36 mins of pure dinamite!! With the buildings around the harbor joining in with lasers, multi-color lights, and search lights... it was like watching Illuminations TIMES 100. AWESOME display...with a loud boom at the end... If I was to take a guess... I would say there were about at least One million people along the Kowloon side of the Harbor and I would imagine there was a lot of folks on the HK side as well... The police kept order and everyone seemed to have enjoyed their evening here. I will have photos from HKDL and the fireworks display soon after I get back to the States. This ends TDLFAN's reporting live from HK.
Originally Posted By Mr X Damn, that sounds awsome! Sadly enough, I was invited to go to Hong Kong by another LPer this week...but I just did not have the funds at this time. Glad you had a great time, sounds like one of those "remember it forever" events, TDLFAN. Happy to hear you were there to enjoy it!
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Wow. I feel as if I were there! Thanks for the report, TDLFAN! I'm glad you were able to be a part of the celebration. Can't wait to see the pics!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<And NO, I have not seen any protests of any kind in the city. Everyone seems to be in great spirits.>> did someone call for a great Spirit?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Here is the last 90 seconds of the show... and keep in mind, this video only shows 2/3rds of the widescreen spectacle the 36 mins. show really was... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyxN4DQznwI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ZyxN4DQznwI</a>
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I take it back... you only see 50% of the show (two barges) as there was more happening on either side of what you see here.. I wish this was a cinemascope short...
Originally Posted By irishfan I'd call them spectacular, but I also wouldn't call them in honour of the 10th anniversary of the handover...Why you ask? Take a look at the date they were added to youtube.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>What the heck do you call that, Hiroshima style fireworks?<< That's an insensitive comment Superfry... Please apologize.
Originally Posted By Mr X Apologize to whom? There are no Japanese posters on this thread, as far as I know.
