Category Archives: Hong Kong

Hong Kong New Year’s Eve fireworks

Hong Kong New Year’s Eve fireworks displays are among the most impressive in the world. The fireworks look like they’re actually coming out of the buildings in their impressive skyline! Here are photos and a video.

Happy New Year from Hong Kong! 2010-2011
Hong King New Year’s Eve 2010-2011, from the Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade.

Hong Kong New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Here’s the video clip I took from my New Year’s Eve celebration in Hong Kong – 51 seconds of awesomeness!  Watch fireworks come from the sides of a building.  I’m not typically wowed by fireworks displays, but this was impressive. I shot this video from the Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade.

Hong Kong New Year's Fireworks

I watched the countdown from Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade (everyone just refers to it as the Harbour) in southern Kowloon – saw a light show and fireworks.

Watching from Victoria Peak would likely also be a fantastic vantage point.

Happy New Year from Hong Kong! 

The Hong Kong architecture and HK skyline is among the best of any city in the world.

Hong Kong's impressive skyline from the harbour (Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade)

The crowd was stoked for New Year’s Eve!  Coming from New York City, I used to take NYE fireworks as a given, but it’s really not. Many countries celebrate NYE, but don’t really care about the actual countdown to the precise moment that it’s the new year.

Countdowns on NYE

The countdown is such a silly tradition but I love it!  HK definitely made it a big deal, following their daily light show over the skyline with fireworks (which were very cool but brief).

Best NYE fireworks?

It was the 2nd time I’ve seen New Year’s Eve fireworks come from the sides of a building (last year’s NYE celebration from Taiwan’s Tapei 101 being the first). Both were impressive.

See for yourself — here’s the video clip of Taipei on New Year’s Eve with the countdown and fireworks.

Hong Kong New Year’s Eve 2010/2011, Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade 

CNN ranked both HK and Taiwan NYE fireworks displays highly too!

Hong Kong’s Bank of China Tower

People love International Financial Centre (IFC), but the skyscraper that stands out the most for me is the Hong Kong’s Bank of China Tower (78 stories). It’s an architectural wonder.

Hong Kong’s Bank of China Tower history

American-born Chinese architect Ieoh Ming Pei (aka IM Pei, or Bei Yuming) designed it. Pei is best known for the modernization of the Louvre museum in Paris, France. He also did the John F. Kennedy Library and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. In NYC, he did the Jacob Javits Center.

The BoC Tower skyscraper might be the most recognizable skyscraper in Central, Hong Kong. When it was completed, it was the tallest building in Hong Kong, the tallest in Asia, and the tallest outside the United States.

It was the first building outside the United States to break the 1,000 foot mark. The BOC also has two masts reaching 1,200 feet high.

I.M. Pei designed Hong Kong's Bank of China Tower on the left | Hong Kong skyline & architecture
I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower on the left

The Bank of China Tower (BOC) is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce CentreTwo International Finance Centre and Central Plaza.

It’s 72 stories high. The design resembles growing bamboo shoots, according to Pei. This supposedly symbolizes livelihood and prosperity.

Video gamers – you may recognize it from Sim City 3000 and Sim City 4.

BoC New Year’s Eve

Check out the skyline on New Year’s Eve. It’s awesome! The BoC building lights up in cool designs. The IFC shoots fireworks from the side. Hong Kong is one of the top NYE fireworks displays in the world! Perhaps only Taiwan and Sydney rival it.

Hong Kong Bank of China Tower skyline on New Year's Eve

Best New Year’s Eve photos from around the world

Best skyline in the world?

Where’s your favorite skyline in the world? I live in New York, so I appreciate skylines that have particularly unique features.

One of my other favorite buildings I’ve come across was the Bahrain WTC, with wind turbines integrated between twin towers.