By Lo Hoi-ying
From free museum visits and tram rides to discounted meals and fun runs, residents and tourists took full advantage of offers by thousands of businesses, braving the frequent showers to revel in the celebrations of the city鈥檚 28th anniversary of its handover to Beijing.
Rows of bright red national and Hong Kong flags adorned the streets and tourist attractions on Tuesday, as around 3,800 restaurants offered special discounts, hoping to attract diners and boost spending.
A parade of about 30 fishing boats along Victoria Harbour drew crowds despite the gloomy weather, while the Star Ferry offered free one-day rides between Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, an opportunity that many tourists seized to visit Golden Bauhinia Square.
Near the Wan Chai ferry terminal, the spot features the famous Bauhinia statue, a prominent symbol of the city鈥檚 1997 handover. Sinopec, which sponsored the free ferry rides, also set up booths to hand out complimentary panda plush toys and Chinese flags to passengers.
Among those celebrating was Lili Zhong, 25, a recent master鈥檚 graduate visiting Hong Kong and Macau with her mother from Shandong province.
鈥淚 was given a national flag and a Hong Kong flag at Tsim Sha Tsui by the staff there. I feel they are very meaningful souvenirs available only on Tuesday,鈥 Zhong said.
However, some of the mainland tourists were unaware of the discounts, despite extensive promotional efforts.
Ms Liu, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, and her two children are having breakfast at Men Wah Bing Teng, a cha chaan teng in Mong Kok that is offering a 21 per cent discount on certain items.
鈥淲e did not know this place offered a discount 鈥 we just saw it after leaving the hotel and decided to eat here,鈥 Liu, who arrived in the city on Monday, said.
But dozens of bargain-hunting residents headed out bright and early on Tuesday morning and lined up outside the Hong Kong-style restaurants for heavily discounted meals.
In Causeway Bay, an exhibition featuring installations to commemorate the handover anniversary drew residents, despite stringent security checks and reminders from the organiser to 鈥渃omply with national security legislation鈥.
Part-time cleaner Leung Mei-fong, 62, had been waiting at the entrance at 9.45am, 15 minutes before it opened.
鈥淭he installations look good from a distance. I came here after seeing online there is an exhibition,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he atmosphere today is good. Safe and peaceful.鈥
But it seems like not all patriots could celebrate as they wished, as organisers stopped a patriotic group from celebrating on Victoria Park鈥檚 football pitches.
Jessica Zhou, society secretary of a Xianning hometown association in Hubei, central China, said the exhibition organiser has told them to relocate to a smaller venue.
She said that her association had been holding national anthem singing events in the park on July 1 since 2023 without encountering any previous issues.
鈥淲hat we are doing is patriotic and should not be problematic,鈥 Zhou said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a little disappointed. We did not have enough information on the new regulations of the area.鈥
Police presence was notably increased outside the Sogo department store and in Victoria Park to a scale 鈥渟imilar to that on the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown or the National Day celebrations,鈥 the Post reported earlier.
This heightened security follows an incident on July 1, 2021, when a lone assailant fatally stabbed a police officer and then himself outside Sogo at night.
Despite the wet weather, others chose to celebrate the public holiday by breaking a sweat.
Around 20 runners, dressed in red and carrying national and Hong Kong flags, marked the occasion by running from Kennedy Town to North Point.
The group then took a ferry from North Point to Hung Hom before continuing their run to the clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui.
鈥淭his is our way to celebrate the July 1 celebration,鈥 said Base Wong, a Chinese medicine practitioner in his forties, adding that the run takes place twice a year 鈥 on July 1 and October 1, National Day.
Several museums offered free admission. This included exhibitions under the M+ museum鈥檚 standard tickets, themed events at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, and permanent exhibitions at both the Science Museum and Space Museum.
Free tickets to the Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+ Museum had been snapped up by Tuesday morning, with about 65 visitors queuing at the Hong Kong Palace Museum before its opening at 10am.