Light up the sky!

On the first day of Chinese New Year, hundreds of thousands of people from the mainland and Hong Kong gather around the bay to witness the New Year fireworks. It's one of the 2 big fireworks displays in the country (the other being on National Day) and people really come out en masse just to witness the spectacle.

As early as 6:30pm, cops close down the stretch of Nathan Road to accommodate all the revelers. Some people - those who have a lot of time to kill - hang around the Cultural Center as early as 5:30 to get the best view of the show. But once 7pm clocks in, droves of people start pouring into the streets, all hoping for an unobstructed view.

The crowds as they arrive.

This country is well known for its efficiency and precision. So when the streamer says "Fireworks show begins at 8pm" it does begin promptly at 8pm. The moment the first burst of light illuminates the sky, people all stand up, point to the sky and giddily jump like kids opening their gifts on Christmas day.

The first fireworks burst!

A classmate who's been a Hong Kong resident for the past 13 years said that the Chinese like to say: WWWWAAAAHHHHH whenever they're amazed. And within a 15 minute time frame, I must have heard WWWWAAAAHHHHH a million times. I was so tempted to tap the guy beside me and say: "Dude, they're just fireworks!" But I also remembered that this expression is also a sign of appreciation. It means you've been so awed by the beauty and precision of the fireworks that you can't help but look up and say WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH!

Some of the WWWAAAAHHHHers that night.

So to get into the spirit of things, I thought of letting out a big WWWWAAAAHHHHH after seeing something that impressed me. But after trying it, I told myself: "Dude, they're just fireworks..."

WAAAAHHHHHH worthy fireworks.

After 30 minutes, and a grand display of pyrotechnics (plus a dark cloud of smoke hovering over Victoria Bay, the event ends. Now comes the hard part, it is said that the turn-out tonight was 800,000 people. So that means I had to walk with and through more than half a million people along the narrow streets of Nathan Road and its neighboring enclaves. Good thing I was alone, this made it easy for me to weave in and out of people.

And the exodus begins.

In retrospect, I was looking for a phrase that could sum up this major event to welcome one of the most important celebrations in HK. And all I could think of was: "Dude, they're just fireworks!"