Hundreds of residents and tourists lined Hong Kong’s waterfronts on Thursday morning to catch a glimpse of the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong and its accompanying strike group entering local waters.
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Crowds packed the esplanade at the South Horizons private residential estate in Hong Kong Island’s Southern district, with many setting up cameras to get pictures of the passing warships.
The Shandong was spotted near Lamma Island at 7.17am and is the first Chinese carrier to call at Hong Kong since the Liaoning visited in July 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty.
The 70,000-tonne warship was escorted by missile destroyers Yanan and Zhanjiang, and the missile frigate Yuncheng on Thursday, with the carrier hosting a series of tours and cultural exchange activities in the city until Monday next week.
The five-day trip also marks the first time one of the country’s fully domestically built carriers has visited the city.
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Military hardware fan Hui Muk-ling, an optometrist in his thirties, said he took the first MTR train from Kowloon Tong at 5.45am to travel to South Horizons just to take pictures of the vessels.