The last time I had seen fireworks was this past July 4th. I was staying on ECU’s campus while I participated in the Brody Summer Biomedical Research Program. I had just returned from dinner with my boyfriend, who tutored chemistry during the summer semesters, and we were saying goodbye in the parking lot when we heard fireworks go off somewhere around College Hill. We managed to spot them between some trees and College Hill Suites and watched for a while before he drove back home.
I spent this New Year’s inside with my family, doing some last minute packing and spontaneously making donuts at 2am, so I had missed the fireworks. However, the Chinese New Year fireworks definitely made up for it. Based on our experience at the parade the day before, my friends and I decided to meet at the harbour at Tsim Sha Tsui around 5pm. The fireworks, which are launched by a fleet of barges in the middle of Victoria Harbour, start at 8pm and can be seen from most areas along the harbour. Our original plan was to settle somewhere on the Kowloon Public Pier, but even by 5pm, people were camped out all over the walkways. The police had also closed off the promenade and it ended up blocking the view of the harbour anyway, so we headed east to the Avenue of Stars. After pushing through the crowd past the statue of Bruce Lee, we eventually made it as far along the bridge as we could. Fun fact: the Avenue of Stars closed in October 2015 and was only just reopened to the public on January 31st, 2019. Our spot on the bridge was crowded, but gave us a perfect view of the fireworks. The entire display lasted about 25 minutes and featured pretty heart fireworks!
ABC in HK 