Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Handover Day

July 1st marked the 15th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese. It is always a public holiday, but with this being a special year all the stops were pulled out. There were events for several days culminating with the July 1 celebrations. 


This year Hu Jintao came for the festivities. There were parades and soldiers (imported from the mainland because Hong Kongers cannot join the PLA), a flotilla on the Harbor, lots of protest marches, swearing in of the new HK Chief Executive and his cabinet and fireworks to bring it all to an end. 


We knew about some of these things, but missed advanced notice of the flotilla so I could only take photos from my window. Wish I had gotten down to the harbor for some closer shots.







Later in the morning we joined Janet and some guests from the US for a trip to Stanley Markets. It was a beautiful (if very hot and humid) day in Stanley and we wandered the markets, had a wonderful lunch by the waterfront and enjoyed getting to know Lekan, Terrand and baby Yael.






After a bit of a rest we all convened at Janet's' apartment. It's such a commute for us - up two floors! She has a rooftop patio above her flat and we took great advantage of it. We watched a cruise ship play peek-a-boo between the buildings and the play of light on the city as sunset approached.






Our guest of honor, Yael, arrived...




...and it was time for the big finale. The show was even better than before. Not only were there fireworks over the harbor, but several of the skyscrapers had them rising from the roof. All were timed together and the effect was wonderful.


Here we go. Ooh...










...aah!










It was a fun celebration and we pretended it was for the 4th as well. Hope you all have a great holiday and a great summer.

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