Hong Kong will host a range of cultural and sports events to mark the upcoming Chinese New Year, with a pair of locally-born panda twins set to make their public debut on Feb 16, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday.
Speaking before a weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee said the period from Chinese New Year’s Eve -- starting on Jan 28 through the first seven days of the Year of the Snake –is regarded as the Spring Festival’s “golden week” for Chinese mainland residents. An estimated 1.4 million mainland tourists are expected to visit the special administrative region -- a 14-percent increase over that of the previous year.
On the first day of the Chinese New Year on Jan 29, a vibrant night parade will be held, featuring 55 performance groups from across the globe, surpassing last year’s spectacle. The city’s skies will be illuminated on the second day with a fireworks display that’s expected to draw huge crowds to both sides of Victoria Harbour. There’ll be horse racing at Sha Tin Racecourse on Jan 31, while the fourth day will feature the Chinese New Year Cup football match at which international football legends will show off their skills at Hong Kong Stadium.
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Lee noted Feb 15 marks the half-year birthday of the locally-born panda twins, with a ceremony planned, to be followed by their official public debut the next day.
He suggested holding contests to name the pandas, aiming to add warmth and joy to the festive season, with specific government arrangements to be announced later.
Lee added he’ll visit various districts from Saturday with government officials over a four-day period to find out about the living conditions of grassroots families.
In response to the expected surge in the number of visitors during the festive period, various government departments are making contingency plans concerning arrangements for crowd management, operations at cross-boundary checkpoints, and traffic control. A cross-departmental working group led by the chief secretary for administration has started working on this.
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Lee said the SAR government is ready to coordinate with the mainland authorities in adjusting operations and services at boundary checkpoints, and hope to announce the details this week.
Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com
