No. I’m not actually going to Hong Kong for Christmas. However, given this weather we’ve had recently, it may be tempting. Also, Hong Kong pulls out all the stops for Hong Kong.

I was in Hong Kong a couple of years ago just before Christmas. The Christmas displays in the shopping centres were colourful and extravagant. Obviously, my photos are two years old, but it does give you a sense of the spectacle the city puts on.

Times Square in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, Hong Kong

What I did miss that year I went, was the large number of Christmas light displays that adorn the towers around Victoria Harbour. In times past, these displays were even larger according to what people tell me. Just imagine looking across Burrard Inlet and reading entire Season Greetings on the buildings and pictures of Christmas Bells and Santa Claus prancing around the skyline. They also do something similar for Chinese New Year.

A different way that the folks in Hong Kong celebrate Christmas is that it is not so much a family affair as it is here. Most North Americans spend Christmas Eve and Day with their family. In Hong Kong, it is considered more of a romantic day, especially Christmas Eve. If somebody asks you out for dinner on Christmas Eve, then it is quite possibly for a romantic rendezvous. I didn’t even realize this extent until I was watching a Hong Kong sitcom where they showed couples walking hand in hand through the retail areas of Tsim Sha Tsui (apparently the new hip way to call it is TST now) on the Kowloon side.

Here’s a YouTube video of the Hong Kong skyline during Christmas from somebody’s personal video taken from from a helicopter ride.  That must have been a pretty penny.  Enjoy the snow and holidays.  I’ll be taking a break for the next week or so, so we’ll see if I have time to post.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Enjoy the vid.