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Fireworks are typically a celebratory centrepiece of New Year celebrations in Hong Kong but this year was very different as the spectacular and colourful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor were absent after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board instead hosted a music show on Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong.
The facades of eight landmarks turned into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day.
The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.
Hotels and restaurants likely affected
Rosanna Law, the territory’s secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged on Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said that although she had planned to watch the fireworks show, she understood the city’s decision because she found news of the blaze heart-wrenching.
“It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” said Wang, a university student.
Wang Miao, a teacher from the neighbouring economic hub of Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity that she could not see pyrotechnics, but she could understand why.
“It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong,” Wang said.
By early Wednesday evening, crowds of revellers had already gathered near the performance stage in Central, hoping to secure the best views of the musical performance.
Worst fire in Hong Kong since the 1940s
The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November.
The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread.
Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy.
Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on 1 October 2012 and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead.
During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.
The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century BC, when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural firecrackers, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a US trade group.
The Guinness World Records organisation says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 CE.
Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.
Additional sources • AP