The light display that snowballed into the biggest festive show in Hong Kong

Hong Kong was no stranger to decorative lights when Tsim Sha Tsui East first started to dress up for the festive winter in the 1980s, but it was the seasonal sparkle that drew unprecedented crowds to the tune of hundreds of thousands.

In time, the number of visitors snowballed from 20,000 to 100,000, then to 150,000 and 300,000 before reaching 800,000, he said.

Cheng Po-hung, an adviser to the Museum of History, said the district’s eye-popping scale of twinkling displays made it a must-go site for Hongkongers seeking Christmas lights.

“Almost everyone in the early 1980s would ask if you’d seen the lights, as if they were asking if you’ve had lunch,” he recounted.

Revellers crammed shoulder to shoulder as they walked along the promenade from the Cultural Centre towards the newly reclaimed area, Cheng said, with people jamming the footbridges to get a better vantage point of the twinkling lights.

And some would catch a glimpse from a Star Ferry plying Victoria Harbour as many light displays were strategically placed along the vessels’ routes.