Hongkongers take pride of place

Hong Kong gained two new entries in Guinness World Records last year - and might have won a third if a man who phoned up claiming to have the world's smallest jigsaw puzzle had not just missed the deadline for the 2005 edition.

Last November, a total of 2,007 people broke an existing record for simultaneous skipping at an event in Victoria Park to mark World Children's Day.

One month later, 7,000 children from 100 primary and secondary schools won an entry for the greatest number of people simultaneously playing the recorder in one location.

Hong Kong has another 26 entries in the record book, including the biggest fleet of Rolls-Royces - 50 - at The Peninsula hotel, the world's largest neon sign and the world's longest suspension road and rail bridge, with the 1,377-metre span of the Tsing Ma Bridge.

Chek Lap Kok is listed twice, as the world's most expensive airport (costing US$20 billion) and the largest passenger terminal, at 550,000 square metres.

There's a shortage of individual record holders, however, and Guinness World Records liaison officer for China, Wu Xiaohong, appealed to Hong Kong people to contact her.

'Often people don't know who to approach if they think they have a record, but when people call us we always try to be polite and humble,' Ms Wu says.

'We are successful and a big brand because of the record holders. They are the heroes. We are just the medium. We would like to encourage more people from Hong Kong and China to get into the book so we can make more heroic people known all over the world.'

Ms Wu can be contacted in Shenyang on (86 24) 2328 4520.