Hong Kong’s version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame set to reopen after three-year revamp

Hong Kong’s version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame will reopen on Thursday after a three-year multimillion-dollar makeover that has added 10 more heavy-hitters from the local film industry.

The Avenue of Stars along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront will be accessible again from 8am with more space, seating and shaded areas, as well as the handprints of 117 celebrities.

But the redesign has moved the hand impressions from the ground to plaques mounted on wooden handrails along the water’s edge. Officials said the change was to prevent tourists being trampled on as they stopped to take pictures.

Avenue of Stars to reopen in January with host of new attractions

“Previously the handprints were implanted into the ground but we found visitors had a hard time taking pictures and would step on them,” said Jeff Tung Jing-kong, senior project director at property developer New World Development, which manages the popular tourist attraction.

“The new and improved design will make it easier for fans to capture photos of the prints and also get the city skyline in the background.”

Ten more famous film figures have added their hands to the revamped walkway, including Carol “Dodo” Cheng Yu-ling, Sandra Ng Kwan-yue and Teresa Mo Sun-kwan, all prior winners of the best actress honour at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Alongside them will be Hong Kong-created cartoon and comic character McDull, who has had his pig hooves immortalised on his very own statue.

Hong Kong government pledges better-run Avenue of Stars

On Wednesday a reopening ceremony took place chaired by government officials from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Designers at the event told the media that environmental issues had been a key concern in their work.

The balustrade has been built with environmentally friendly materials such as rice husk, salt and mineral oil, instead of timber.

Statues of Hong Kong’s biggest movie stars, including martial arts legend Bruce Lee, have also been upgraded with water features. Protective barriers have been removed to allow tourists to get up close.

“We’re not too concerned about damage to the statues … The idea is to allow visitors to get up close and personal,” Tung said. “Why would someone want to deny visitors that opportunity?”

Hong Kong tourist attraction Avenue of Stars to get HK$100m facelift

The avenue has also had its seating doubled and has undergone a sevenfold increase in shaded areas.

Fiona Wan Zee-ngan, the attraction’s public affairs general manager, said New World Development expected at least a 10 per cent rise on the number of visitors before the closure, when more than 10 million came annually.

Yau Tsim Mong District Council chairman Chris Ip Ngo-tung said that to better manage tour groups coming in and out of the area, there would be dedicated drop-off and pickup areas for coaches.

There would now be 11 spots for buses to pick up their groups, one more than before, and eight spots for dropping them off.

“We’re enforcing crowd control measures so as to lessen the disruption to Salisbury Road,” Ip said, reiterating that the spots were for set-down and pickup purposes only and buses could not stay there for longer than a couple minutes.

The pickup area is located at the Salisbury Road entrance of the Avenue of Stars while the drop-off zone is across the street at Chatham Road South.

“We have not widened the avenue’s footbridge, but have been able to extend the accessible area by two to three feet, which allows for a more spacious environment,” Wan said.

The walkway was closed in October 2015 for repairs and improvement work, and was originally expected to reopen in the third quarter of last year.

But the Leisure and Cultural Services Department pushed back the date after determining that more large-scale work was needed. More than HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) was spent on the project.

The avenue was first opened in 2004. The much-loved 2.5-metre bronze statue of Lee was erected in 2005.