Editing Hong Kong (section)

=== Christmas ===
Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) and Boxing Day (first weekday after Xmas) are holidays in Hong Kong and from late November onwards you'll see the decorations and commercial displays in stores as you do in many other places. You'll also see some elaborate lighting displays go up on tall buildings on both sides of the harbour. It's a local tradition to walk around TST near the waterfront and look at the lights and take photos in front of them on Christmas Day. Some roads are blocked off and traffic diverted to facilitate this. It gets crowded in the evenings so if you're keen to test the limits of your personal space, it's an excellent place and time to go for a stroll.

Hong Kong doesn't come to a standstill for these holidays even though business and government offices are closed. While museums and other venues may close early - usually 5 pm - and other places may be on modified hours, most shops and restaurants are still open as they are normally.

There are various events and displays at local theme parks, shopping malls and special concerts and events such as carolling around town. There are also traditional midnight masses at places like St. John's Cathedral but, here's that phrase again, they can be crowded. They often set up speakers outside the church and people take part in the mass there.

* [http://www.discoverhongkong.com/festivehk2010/eng/winter/overview.jsp Winterfest Christmas and New Year events 2010]