A daredevil businessman is to plunge 300 metres from a helicopter over the open ocean to mark the handover.
Calling it the 'Elevator from Hell', bungee specialist Paul Boyle will today free-fall the height of the Bank of China building to within just metres of the water.
The director of American company Bungy Zone Adventures will charter a helicopter and make the jump south of Lantau Island shortly before 2.30 pm, taking with him a giant half-Chinese, half-British flag.
After practising the jump recently in Taiwan, Mr Boyle said it would be one of the leaps of his life.
'It is just like being in a plunging elevator - a totally intense and amazing jump, a real blast,' he said.
But the 26-year-old, who made a maverick bungee jump from the Hong Kong Stadium's upper tiers last year, said 'prudish' authorities and red tape still posed problems in staging such stunts, despite strenuous safety precautions.