Victoria Harbour [HongKong]

Victoria Harbour is the harbour between the Kowloon Peninsula and the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong, China. With an area of about 41.88 km² as at 2004, its natural depth and sheltered location enticed the British to occupy the island of Hong Kong during the First Opium War, and subsequently establish the colony as a trading post.

The Victoria Harbour is world-famous for its stunning panoramic night view and skyline, particularly in the direction towards Hong Kong Island where the skyline of skyscrapers is superimposed over the ridges behind. Among the best places to view the Harbour is at the Victoria Tower on the Victoria Peak, or from the piazza at the Culture Centre or the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side. Rides on the Star Ferry to view the harbour are also widely popular.

As the natural epicentre of the territory, the harbour has played host to many major public shows, including the annual fireworks displays on the 2nd night of the Lunar New Year. These shows are popular with tourists and locals alike, and the show is usually telecast on local television. To add to the popularity of the harbour as a sightseeing location, the government introduced a show dubbed A Symphony of Lights, using use audio, lights and pyrotechnics to introduce the city to its viewers every evening.

Also recently opened, was the Avenue of Stars, built along the promenade outside the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. Modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it honours the most illustrious people the Hong Kong film industry has produced over the past decades.

By the end of November every year, the outer walls of buildings in the central business districts on both side of the harbours are dressed with Christmas-related decorations, and replaced with Lunar New Year-related ones by January.