National Day

Last week, Tom and I were lucky enough to get another holiday -- HK celebrates both western and Chinese holidays, so the vacation schedule is a mishmash of nationalist and Christian and older religious traditions. Unlike the Mid-Autumn Festival, people came OUT for National Day, which celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Of course, the turnout may have had a lot to do with the fact that there is a big fireworks show in the harbor. The major artery of Nathan Road was shut down to allow people to walk down it, and all of the roads by the harborfront in Tsim Sha Tsui were blocked off to keep the crowds under control.

Tom and I bought some Tsingtao at the 7-11 and drank it as we walked down the street (it's still weird not to reflexively hide the open container from the police!). We found a good spot by the highway rail (the highway was closed to both human and automobile traffic -- giving the entrance into the tunnel a weird, slightly apocalyptic look, despite all the crowds of people everywhere else). The fireworks show started about a half-hour late, but from the get-go it was impressive. The fireworks were huge, and bloomed impressively up above the skyscrapers. But the coolest part was the sound -- the harbor gave each "boom" a magnifying effect so that it reverberated throughout the city. Plus, each "boom" was punctuated by the collective "ooohs and aaahs" of the crowd.

Fireworks are one of my favorite things in the world anyway, but to be surrounded by such crowds showing such vocal appreciation was a delight. Tom bought a light-up pair of bunny ears for me and "forced" me to wear them, and I grinned like a little kid at the circus all the rest of the evening.

Although National Day celebrations on the Mainland are arguably bigger and more impressive (and the Mainland gets the whole week off -- unlike capitalist HK), this was quite the show for a region that is only celebrating its 14th National Day (the first was after the handover in 1997).