Anyone unsure which anniversary the People's Republic of China is celebrating on October 1 will have no doubt after seeing Hong Kong's fireworks display to mark the event.
After a series of scenes emphasising patriotic themes in bursts of brilliant colour, the Chinese characters for 'China 60' will sparkle 60 times over Victoria Harbour.
To drive the point home, the show will end with a 60-second crescendo, said the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring the event. In all, the HK$3 million show will last 23 minutes and consist of nine acts using 31,888 fireworks.
Each act will centre on a theme, such as 'the pride of China', 'blossoming lotus', 'pearl of the Orient' and 'Hong Kong spirit'.
Wilson Mao Wai-shing, in charge of the technical side of the show, said the designers had worked to avoid the common problem of fireworks being obscured by smoke from previous explosions when there was little wind. 'We designed this show in a way that would let fireworks explode in different places at different times, rather than everything in the same place.'
Patriotic songs such as The Silk Road and the Yellow River Concerto will be played - with a synchronised broadcast on RTHK Radio 4 so the audience can hear the music over the explosions. '[The mainland's] economic clout has been picking up without pause,' chamber chairman Jonathan Choi Koon-shum said.