Last night's pyrotechnic extravaganza at Tsing Ma Bridge was the most expensive and explosive fireworks display ever held in Hong Kong. The 20-minute fireworks and laser show cost $250,000 per minute. The $5 million bill made the show twice as expensive as February's Lunar New Year fireworks display in Victoria Harbour. 'Firepower is the word. The night sky lit up like nothing you have ever seen,' Pyrotechnic Productions project manager Wilson Mao Wai-shing said. 'Compared to ours, the New Year's fireworks celebration was a dwarf to a giant. And that was supposed to be a record-breaking event, with 22,000 rounds.' Mr Mao and his crew of 50 technicians spent more than a week installing 60,000 rounds on three barges in the channel between the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Tsuen Wan coastline. Hundreds of these rounds contained shells of up to 30.5 centimetres long - among the most powerful in the industry - which shot up to 400 metres high and exploded 250 metres wide. The centrepiece was the 400-metre-high fireworks 'diadem', which looked like two huge jewels surrounded by a host of smaller multi-coloured pieces. Mr Mao successfully experimented with a new technique, turning thousands of small shells upside down and firing them downwards from the $7.1 billion bridge. The Sun Hung Kai Properties Group footed the fireworks bill.
