One of the hallmarks of Hong Kong is the Symphony of Lights. This is a truly impressive sight, which amazes with its scale and beauty. It is believed that if you visited Hong Kong and did not see the Symphony of Lights, then the trip was in vain. After all, watching this grandiose show is very simple - every evening, 42 skyscrapers of Hong Kong in the business center of the city begin their performance synchronized with music.
Light and sound laser show in Hong Kong
The Symphony of Lights began operating in 2004. The technology for the project was developed by Australian firm LaserVision and cost approximately HK$44 million to implement.
What is this grandiose project? Within 10 minutes, on both sides of Victoria Harbor, the roofs and facades of skyscrapers begin to be illuminated with multi-colored lights. For this, the most powerful spotlights are used. You can see beautiful fairy-tale dragons, heroes of Chinese folk legends, beautiful flowers and various geometric shapes. Colorful images are reflected in the bay, thus creating a truly unique spectacle.
In addition to the spotlights, fireworks are launched at the same time, and fireworks rumble over the skyscrapers. From the loudspeakers installed right on the skyscrapers, loud classical music in modern processing sounds. The same musical accompaniment can be heard from city loudspeakers or by tuning into a certain radio wave.
The show includes five acts, each of which is filled with a secret meaning, as is traditionally accepted in Chinese traditions: awakening, life, heritage, cooperation, celebration.
- A year after its opening, the Symphony of Lights got into the Guinness Book of Records under the definition of "the world's largest permanent light and sound show."
- At the very beginning of its appearance, the Symphony of Lights took place only on one side of the bay, and twenty skyscrapers participated in it.
- It is most convenient to watch this landmark of Hong Kong from the Avenue of Stars - it is from there that every detail of the grandiose performance is best seen.
- Thousands of Hong Kong residents and many tourists gather here every evening to capture these amazing moments in their memory and on camera pictures.
Helpful information
Light show hours: daily at 20:00.
The best view of the Symphony of Lights: from the Tsim Sha Tsui embankment.
How to get there:
- Take the subway to Tsim Sha Tsui Station or Tsim Sha Tsui East Station. Proceed to exits L6 and J. Follow the signs to get to the Tsim Sha Tsui embankment.
- you can get to the embankment at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wanchai by metro, get off at Wanchai station, walk along the pedestrian bridge to exit A5.
- take a cruise on Victoria Harbor to watch the Symphony of Lights from the water.
Symphony of Lights on the map of Hong Kong
One of the hallmarks of Hong Kong is the Symphony of Lights. This is a truly impressive sight, which amazes with its scale and beauty. It is believed that if you visited Hong Kong and did not see the Symphony of Lights, then the trip was in vain. After all, it is very easy to watch this grandiose show - every evening 42 skyscrapers of Hong Kong in the business center of the city begin their synchro..." />
Sometimes in life there are situations in which I have absolutely no idea what to do next. So it turns out this time, friends - I have no idea how to meet the time in order to fulfill my idea in terms of the completed trip, and not to make you bored on ours. The only thing that comes to mind is to add something from past travels. For example, how do you like a couple of days in Hong Kong? Yes, yes, this is the same New Year's adventure that included.
Last time we stopped at the moment when a speedboat brought us to the pier in Hong Kong. From the trip itself, I was not thrilled, but we arrived and okay. Now you need to go through passport control. I was somehow lucky to slip through quickly, but the border guards didn’t like Milin’s passport, well, still, a pretty young girl who arrived in a rich promising with all the consequences city. That would make me suspicious too ;)
In fact, the Chinese border guard simply took the document from her, checked it, and gave it back. All this took no more than 10 minutes and now we are free to do whatever we want.
Welcome to Hong Kong! Kowloon Park.
Nearby was Kowloon Park, so the first thing we decided to look into there. Since we had already pretty much walked around Macau, we did not particularly linger in the classic oriental garden of South China. We looked at different birds (by the way, I saw flamingos here for the first time, beauties), enjoyed McDonald's ice cream (at that time we did not know that this was the cheapest joy in Hong Kong, 5 GD (20 rubles)), and went in search of cheap housing, which was listed in my guidebook.
The city seemed to me wider than Macau. Yes - the same skyscrapers, yes - it still glows and burns, yes - again everyone around is looking not at the road, but at their gadget, but still there is more space and there is no feeling that you are in a huge nightclub. Perhaps because Hong Kong was one of my first “high-rise” cities, and first impressions, as you know, are rooted in memory, but after it it doesn’t even look so impressive.
Among the numerous bright signs of branded clothes, we could not find the most important thing - a supermarket. Therefore, we had to postpone the grocery shopping until we had finished our accommodation in a cheap hotel.
Cheap hotels in the skyscraper Chunking Mansion.
Reading reviews on the Internet, I have identified one place where you can find cheap hotels in Hong Kong - this skyscraper Chunking Mansion. We got to it on foot, who are too lazy, can get to the Tsim Sha Tsui metro station or by bus A21, going straight from the airport. What I liked is the central location of the skyscraper, that is, all popular places are within walking distance.
It was not difficult to find the skyscraper, a huge sign told us that we were there. In addition, there are many barkers of “Hindu nationality” on the street who would not miss a client for anything in the world. By the way, it is they who hold currency exchange offices on the first floors (the exchange rate is good), shops, shops and cafes, and they live and rent rooms on the upper floors.
Some Indian, catching us on the way to the skyscraper, really wanted to show his cheap hotel-guesthouse. We did not mind, especially since the price suited us - 280 GD (1077 rubles) for two with one bed. We went up to the 15th floor. When I got out of the elevator, there was a complete impression of the landing of an ordinary residential building. And a “guesthouse” in Chunking Mansion is an apartment converted into a multitude (from 7 rooms) of rooms with a toilet-shower inside and a boy-guard of the “apartment” outside. The rooms themselves are no larger than a Russian Khrushchev kitchen on 4 square meters. m., an impressive part of which is occupied by a bed. However, it doesn’t matter to us, it would be where to sleep and wash.
If you, as an independent traveler, are also interested in cheap hotels in Hong Kong, see a convenient hotel map:
Laser show in Victoria Harbor.
By the time we finished checking into one of the cheap hotels, it was dark outside, which meant a great opportunity to watch Hong Kong's Symphony of Lights laser show in Victoria Harbor every day at 20:00.
As I said, everything is within walking distance, so we slowly walked to the Tsim Sha Tsui embankment, which offers a panoramic view of the skyscrapers in the business center of the city. Slowly, spectators began to gather, and we also found ourselves a free piece to enjoy the spectacle.
Frankly, I didn’t even understand at what point the laser show began, because the music played so quietly from the side of a large white building that I didn’t immediately hear it through the hum of people.
Then one laser beam appeared in the sky, then the second, now they were already intertwined into a colored grid ... To be honest, I expected more from the “largest” laser show in Hong Kong. In general, the show did not last long. Yes, not bad, but I can’t say “waaaaaaaa” with bated breath.
There were guys standing next to us, from whose side I clearly heard Russian speech. At the end of the performance, Mila and I approached them and asked their opinion about the Symphony of Lights. I did not hear enthusiastic exclamations from them either, besides, they have been in Hong Kong for several days. We chatted with them a little about the sights, about moving around the city, and somehow I got so tired of looking at all these Buddha statues that were boring in Burma that we decided to come up with another program for tomorrow.
In order to somehow prolong our good mood, we decided to complete the walk along the Avenue of Stars.
Avenue of Stars.
In 2004, on the site of the port of spices, the most popular place for walking appeared, from where the best views of the city open - Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.
The pedestrian area is small - only 400 meters along Victoria Harbor, however, even on such a short stretch, you can get tired of taking pictures with all kinds of directors, actors and cartoon characters.
I barely stood in line to Bruce Lee :).
The “star” path is tiled with colored illumination, where convex stars with celebrity handprints periodically come across.
We found Jackie Chan right away when we saw a huge crowd of people gathered at one point. Why not leave your mark on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars too?
As I was leaving, I heard singing.
At the very end of the Avenue of Stars, a small stage was set up, from where songs were performed by young stars in an amazing performance. We couldn't help but stay here for a few songs.
On the way back, we never found a grocery store, so we had to dine on backpack supplies. After that there was a hot shower and a soft bed until the morning. Good night everyone, tomorrow we will continue.
I know it's trite for seasoned travelers, but I can't help but post a mini-report about the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong and the light show there. As a rule, everyone visits this very alley during the day, but I didn’t want to specifically look at the stars immured in concrete, so it was decided to combine it with watching a light show that starts at 8 pm and lasts about 15 minutes. I want to note that if you stop at or somewhere else on Nathan Road, then the embankment will be the only normal place for walking. Although no, I’m lying, there is also Kowloon Park nearby, but there is no sea flavor and tourist traffic, just a park and that’s it. Remarkably, free wifi was caught on the embankment, that is, you can sit to work or just surf the Internet. I don’t know if he is there all the time or not, but there is a Starbucks right on the shore where you can also sit.
Although I sometimes like to watch various films, I have a very bad memory for names, so I don’t know a single director and remember literally a dozen actors. In the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, in general, all some people I don’t know, and many, I think, too. Of those I know - the legendary Bruce Lee and no less famous - Jackie Chan, these two I remember from childhood. And apparently I will never be able to forget the image of a man in yellow pants and a black stripe on the side that immediately pops up in my memory, as well as another one who is always fighting with the crowd with all the objects that come to hand. Then 30 years ago there were not so many films, and we watched them in poor quality on video cassettes. Oh, how long ago it was, now on one flash drive as much fits as before it didn’t fit into a whole closet :)
In general, cinema lovers will probably be interested, you can put your hands on the prints of the great hands and thus join them. Of course, the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong is much more modest than Hollywood, but where are we, and where is America. I flew to Hong Kong from Moscow on a direct flight for 400 bucks in total, but you can’t get to Hollywood for that amount.
Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong
Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong
Laser show in Hong Kong
As I already wrote, the laser show starts at 20.00 and lasts 15 minutes. Represents the movement of laser beams in the sky and flashing lights on skyscrapers to the music (not quite in time). In fact, I won’t say that this show is special, I kept waiting for some kind of climax, but it never came. Why he was included in the Guinness Book of Records is not clear. I watched the show from the waterfront of the Kowloon Peninsula in the direction of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island. I think that if you look in the opposite direction (from the waterfront of Hong Kong Island), the spectacle will be even weaker. Nevertheless, you can watch the show, because there is nothing to do in the evening anyway, especially if you are not too tempted by impressions. Perhaps on holidays or on certain dates everything looks much cooler, but I was not lucky.
Not far from the Avenue of Stars
Laser show in Hong Kong
Laser show in Hong Kong
After the show, just skyscrapers again, only with the moon
Neighborhood Avenue of Stars
To get as much experience from this place as possible, it makes sense to take a walk around the area. Here, figures of some characters are periodically exhibited, mimes meet, at the intersection of Nathan Road and Salisbury Road, there is a square with a huge tree on a high pedestal, a pavilion with a Time Ball mechanism and old artillery pieces. And if you are tired of this side, then you can easily find yourself on Hong Kong Island through.
Not far from the Avenue of Stars
Hong Kong is not only the city with the largest number of skyscrapers, but there are already more than 7,700 tall buildings. It also hosts the largest regular (daily) light and sound performance in the world, listed in the Guinness Book of Records - Symphony of Lights.
This show has long become a classic of Hong Kong and is considered one of the must-sees for every tourist.
Since 2004, Victoria Strait has been transformed every evening. Nearly 50 buildings on both sides of the Victoria Strait take part in the illumination, they are the perfect backdrop for the performance.
The Philharmonic Orchestra recorded a specially new symphony, under which laser lights and LED screens create a show.
On special holidays, there is a laser show with a pyrotechnic effect, in other words, with fireworks on the roofs of skyscrapers.
The largest light show Where is the best place to watch the laser show?
- One of the most popular viewing platforms from where it is convenient to observe the "Symphony of Light" is the Tsim Tsa Tsui embankment. It is from here that the best views of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island will be heard and the music of the symphony will be heard. It is generally pleasant to walk here, quite a tourist area and always a lot of people. Also, before or after the performance, you can take a walk in the Garden of the Stars, East Tsim Sha Tsui Station subway exit P1. Here are exhibits of "celebrity hands" from the former Avenue of Stars.
- It can be observed from Hong Kong, then a view of Kowloon (Kowloon) opens, laser lights will also be visible. The best places will be at the Golden Bauhinia or along the waterfront to the Ferris wheel.
- Of course, you can watch the light show from your hotel room if you have a view of Victoria Harbor. Or from a restaurant overlooking the strait. But in that case, you have to tune the Hong Kong radio to hear also the symphony, under which the lights shine.
- Probably the best vantage point to look out for is the Hong Kong Red Sail Junk sailing along the Victoria Strait. So you can contemplate the show from all sides at once.
How to get to the light show?
- If you are a tourist, it is best to come by Star Ferry from Central or Wan Chai. So you can look at another local attraction, so to speak, the classic of Hong Kong, the oldest ferry operating since 1888. At Tsim Tsa Tsui, immediately turn right towards the Clock Tower.
- Of course, you can come by metro. As an option, first get off at East Tsim Sha Tsui Station exit P1 to look at the Garden of Stars, and then walk along the boardwalk, which offers a great view of the skyscrapers.
Or immediately get off at Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Exit L6 and walk to the Clock Tower (Clock Tower)
The show runs every day, except on days when tropical cyclone #3 and higher, or when the red or black signal is warning of a downpour.
The play of light begins at exactly 20:00 and lasts only 10 minutes.
Light show on Hong Kong Island I can't say that you will be blown away by the show, but there is a certain zest in it. In addition, if this is your first time in this metropolis, it is still worth a look at the show, because it is not for nothing that it is considered one of the hallmarks of Hong Kong.
If you want to visit more interesting places, a list with a description can be found.
And if you want to save money on visiting attractions, it is better to use the Hong Kong Pass. Most importantly, it allows you to go to many places without a queue, thereby saving the most precious tourist time.
Every evening, hundreds of people gather on the Hong Kong waterfront, about which I wrote, because at 20:00 the Symphony of Lights laser show begins. It is a game of lasers and light projections on skyscrapers from the opposite shore. I came to see it too! Think: “After all, there will certainly be some incredible extravaganza!”.
The show blew my mind! In the title photo - the most modest frame.
And this is the most enchanting: 
Feel the global difference?))
The show struck me with its incompetence) And this is Hong Kong, where everything is built and done on an impressive scale!
The laser extravaganza lasts 15 minutes, at which time music plays, buildings are illuminated and the voice of the announcer tells what is in them. Then the lasers merge in musical ecstasy and glow in different directions.
Everything is very modest. Firstly, because of the eternal Hong Kong haze in the sky, half of the world is simply lost, and secondly, the laser show itself is somehow, well, meeeeeee modest.
In general, cherishing the idea that I just don’t understand anything about laser shows, I wandered home that evening to sleep)
The embankment is really crowded with fans of this cool show :)) 
Well, night Hong Kong from the waterfront. 
Other posts about Hong Kong:
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