More than 213,000 mainland Chinese visitors flocked to Hong Kong on the first day of the Labour Day “golden week” holiday on Thursday, looking forward to some hiking, treating their taste buds at street food stalls and restaurants, and enjoying a dazzling drone show in the night sky above Victoria Harbour.
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Immigration Department data showed that 253,200 visitors had entered the city as of 9pm. That included 213,181 from the mainland, compared with 181,400 for the whole day last year, while more than 281,000 Hong Kong residents had departed for other destinations.
In the afternoon, hundreds of early birds gathered at the Wan Chai temporary promenade hours ahead of a 12-minute Labour Day drone show at 8pm.
The event featured 1,000 drones weaving through the skies above Victoria Harbour, forming shapes such as firecrackers, dancing qilin – mythical hoofed beasts – and traditional buns in a nod to the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.
Among the crowd was Zhang Hui, a business owner from Shenzhen, who had arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday for three days with her 17-year-old daughter.
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