Hong Kong - New Years?
 

I will be in Hong Kong New years!

What kind of festivities is there?

Is New Years a big celebration in HK?

It's not a big celebration for the local Chinese. However, there will be large crowds at Lan Kwai Fong in Central, where expats, tourists and young adults who've studied abroad gather to party.

There will still be significant crowd along the Tsimshatsui promenade, but in general the locals are more excited about Christmas Eve, for no particular reason...

Agree with rkkwan, went back 2 years ago for christmas and it was a HUGE celebration at Lan Kwai Fong. It was quite a sight seeing everyone count down to christmas. Which i find werid.

II'm in the same boat as Kitty, I'll be in HK for new years, does anyone have any good suggestions for New Years.

Come to think about it, I'll be there for New Year too! Ha... But like other local Chinese, I really do not care. :D

There are no fireworks or outdoor countdown venues at New Year’s, so you have to make your own celebration. Lots of restaurants will offer package dinners, if you don’t mind spending the money, consider Felix (Peninsula Hotel), Vong (Mandarin Hotel, or Yu (Intercontinental Hotel). Another place to consider would be Talk of the Town (ToTT’s Asian Bar & Grill, in the Excelsior Hotel) or for a great view and OK food the Cafe Deco on the Peak (www.cafedeco.com). Felix and Cafe Deco usually have a live band in the bar area.

I personally would avoid Lan Kwai Fong on New Year’s Eve. It is very, very, very crowded and full of drunk young ex-pats. The area is on a steep incline and the streets are narrow. It is very hard to move around and the crowds get unruly. (In 1996 or 1997, several people were crushed to death when it rained and the streets were slippery, but the police are now out in force there so that type of problem should not occur.) The Promenade on the Kowloon side is a better choice, but again will be fairly crowded.

I've been in HK on 2 or 3 occasions on New Years Eve. Big crowds everywhere. Around the waterfront in TST (Star Ferry, Promenade, etc) and up Canton Road there were tens if not hundreds of thousands of people.

Quite a few people were killed in a crush in Lan Kwai Fong a few years back.

Times Square in Causeway Bay usually has a countdown but massive crowds also.