page_title: New Year's Eve
section_title: Hong Kong
hierarchical_section_title: New Year's Eve / Asia / China / Hong Kong
caption_attribution_description: English: New Year celebrations in Hong Kong
context_page_description: In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, is on 31 December. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening parties, where many people dance, eat, drink, and watch or light fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.
  Tonga and Kiritimati, part of Kiribati, are examples of the first places to welcome the New Year while Baker Island in the United States of America and American Samoa are among the last.
context_section_description: In Hong Kong, many gather in shopping districts like Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. Beginning in 2008, a 60-second numerical countdown to New Year's, consisting of LED lights and pyrotechnic display effects, on the facade of Two International Finance Centre was launched, followed by a fireworks display, alongside an exhibition of the Symphony of Lights. For the arrival of 2013, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre initiated the countdown, while the fireworks display and A Symphony of Lights show were extended to eight minutes.
  Shopping malls are often major celebration venues. The Times Square shopping mall, for instance, holds their own celebration of the ball drop held at Times Square, New York City. There are also various district-wide celebrations.
caption: Fireworks display in Hong Kong.
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