National Day

A day to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China.  This day is celebrated of course in China and Hong Kong and Macau.

So the date on this post is grossly overdue, the actual day of celebration takes places on October 1st each year and makes up part of the Autumn Festival and what the locals call Golden Week.

National Day is a much celebrated holiday.  The South China Morning Post reported the next day that the HKSAR had spent a staggering HK$13 million in less than 30 minutes, firing off more than 31,000 fireworks into the sky over Victoria Harbour to a crowd of more than 275,000 people watching from both the Kowloon and island sides.

Amélie and Juliette await the start of the National Day fireworks.

We had to get there early to stake a good spot and we thought we had done so but people were already gathered in the hour before we arrived.  Amélie and Juliette were troopers the entire time, it is difficult for a 4 year old to stand put for an hour especially one as active as Juliette.

As the crowds gathered the excitement amongst us grew, truly who doesn't like a good fireworks display and this one promised to be a dazzling array of coloured lights and grandiose explosions.

It was exactly that and a bag of chips (do the kids still say that).  The HKSAR set up four barges in the harbour and let off fireworks for 23 full minutes.  It got to the point where we thought it might just go on all night.  When it was all over a collective roar came from the enormous crowds that had gathered and one kid was heard to simply say "wow", eyes wide opened, but in cantonese of course.

If you are ever in the area on October 1st be sure to head down to the harbour front a good hour and half before the fireworks start to get a good spot.  Bring a snack, maybe a little bevvie and enjoy the spectacle that is National Day.

See below for a few pics of the fireworks themselves.  Take heed I may have provided one or two more images then I should have.