HK WinterFest kicks off

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 ◆ HK WinterFest kicks off

Hong Kong WinterFest began here Sunday (Dec.1) with a Xmas Wishing Tree switch-on ceremony, which will provide visitors and local residents a series of fun-filled activities until Jan. 5 next year.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Antony Leung and Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Selina Chow officiated at the switch-on ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square.

According to Leung, Hong Kong WinterFest is a special program blending the best of winter celebrations from the east and the west, which will feature a wide range of cultural and culinary attractions.

Leung said Hong Kong WinterFest is the culmination of a two-year tourism promotion campaign organized by the HKTB under the banner of "City of Life: Hong Kong is it!".

The financial secretary said special events such as WinterFest can help attract more visitors to Hong Kong. Particularly, a considerable number of these visitors will be coming from across the border in the Chinese mainland, which is Hong Kong's fastest growing tourist source market.

According to him, in the first ten months of 2002, Hong Kong has played host to some 5.4 million mainland visitors. The number is nearly a million more than that for the whole of last year.

The 34-meter-high Xmas Wishing Tree is comprised of 20,000 bulbs, which can form 68 different shapes when lighted.