Elevate Your Chinese New Year Experience in A “Pandastic” Hong Kong

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 6, 2025--

Hong Kong is embracing the richest Chinese New Year ambience among Asian cities, particular in blending in traditional and modern elements in celebrating the east-meets-west festivities, bringing travellers endless surprises. The festive in-town atmosphere this Chinese New Year is gaining extra miles as the city welcomes its newest residents, giant pandas An An and Ke Ke, who will take up residence alongside a set of soon-to-be-unveiled, local-bred giant panda twin cubs. These new arrivals present a thrilling opportunity — and, more importantly, countless adorable photo ops — for travellers from around the world to partake in an unprecedented travel experience that begins the moment they set foot in Hong Kong and lasts until their departure.

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Colourful panda displays are ready to greet visitors on train carriages (Credit: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

Here’s where to check in around town to enjoy an immersive panda-themed journey, promising delightful surprises throughout the city.

All aboard: Panda-themed trains to kickstart your journey

Your panda experience during the Chinese New Year period in Hong Kong begins right at the moment you arrive. Colourful panda displays are set to welcome visitors celebrating the Chinese New Year at the city’s border on train carriages at the Airport Express Line and the High Speed Rail, not to mention on your way to the home of the giant pandas, the South Island Line. In addition to the on-board decals, concourses at Hong Kong and Ocean Park MTR stations will be adorned with panda-themed decorations.

In the wild: Enjoy magical moments with giant pandas around town

This Chinese New Year, visitors to Hong Kong will have plenty of opportunities for panda encounters around the city. For the very first time, the Cathay InternationalChinese New Year Night Parade, which takes place on 29 January, will feature a float dedicated to giant pandas incorporating iconic local Hong Kong elements. Come witness the festivities while ushering in the best of luck and prosperity on the very first day of the Year of the Snake!

Additionally, giant panda-themed naked eye 3D billboards will be dotted around town in high-traffic outdoor locations in celebrating the coming of the Chinese New Year, including Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok from 6 January until early February, and Causeway Bay from 13 to 26 January respectively. While you are out and about for CNY preparation, make sure to check out the eye-catching installations that showcase a panda’s journey through iconic attractions, including on a traditional junk boat, at Symphony of Lights, and surveying the scene from high above at Victoria Peak. Come follow the cuties to embark on your local discovery journey to explore the city’s essence.

What’s more, the Festive Lunar New Year Stop of PANDA GO! FEST HONG KONG will take place from 17 January to 6 March at D·PARK, Tsuen Wan. This exhibition will feature over 800 panda sculptures in their debut Lunar New Year-themed designs, bringing joy and festive cheer to the community. Additionally, around 200 panda sculptures will travel to Central Market from 17 February to 6 March, allowing visitors in both locations to catch a glimpse of these adorable installations.

As the home of six giant pandas, Ocean Park Hong Kong will transform into a panda-tastic wonderland. Dive into an immersive, park-wide panda land of thematic experiences like “Panda Wonders: An Illuminated Journey”, a fantastical, multi-faceted journey that includes interactive installations, 3D projections and even AR pandas for a perfect photo op. The theme park’s food and beverage outlets are also joining the panda party, with a range of sweet and savoury panda-themed treats on offer. And for sure, Ocean Park is also the only place in Hong Kong to have a real-life panda encounter and check-in.

Check in for elevated encounters with pandas

Several Hong Kong hotels are also getting into the spirit of the citywide panda-monium. Regala Skycity Hotel is celebrating the arrival of Hong Kong’s new pandas with a playful Panda Dim Sum collection and a creamy sesame and coconut Panda Mousse Cake, available at the Jade and Petra. At The Harbourview, guests can enjoy the adorable Panda Bamboo Bliss Afternoon Tea Set in an atmosphere reminiscent of a serene bamboo forest, the perfect way to join the Hong Kong panda party.

What’s more, The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel invites guests to spend a full day holiday getaway with pandas. Step into the bamboo forest to have a sweet dream at Panda Party Room, where a lush forest landscapes adorned on the walls with bamboo-style circular bed, Visitors can also enjoy a Thematic Panda Fufu Afternoon Tea and Snack & Concoction Menu at the hotel’s iconic Lighthouse Lounge, an ideal way for panda lovers of all ages to spend an afternoon.

Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel is also getting in on the panda action. Despite the hotel’s classic panda-themed room Bao Bao Paradise, visitors can also spend a night surrounded by pandas with numerous panda-themed decorations filled though the hotel, and don’t miss out the twinkling panda-inspired immersive light show.

For those celebrating CNY in Hong Kong this year, be sure not to miss out on an immersive adventure to Hong Kong’s fantastic panda paradise this season. To check in to a panda-themed itinerary, start planning your trip at the Discover Hong Kong website: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/what-s-new/panda.html.

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Immersive experience of “Panda Wonders: An Illuminated Journey at Ocean Park (Credit: Ocean Park Hong Kong)

Giant panda-themed naked eye 3D billboards will be dotted around town in high-traffic outdoor locations from January (Mock-up Photo, credit: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday it has determined that Sudan’s paramilitary group and its proxies are committing genocide in the country’s civil war and that it has imposed sanctions on the group’s leader and affiliated companies.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the conflict, which is considered the world’s biggest current humanitarian catastrophe, had escalated beyond a war crimes and ethnic cleansing determination he made in December 2023.

Blinken said that based on more recent reporting, he found that the Rapid Support Forces group is committing genocide. His statement was accompanied by a Treasury Department announcement that RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, also known as Hemedti, had been targeted for sanctions as well as seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates.

“The RSF and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians,” Blinken said. “The RSF and allied militias have systematically murdered men and boys — even infants — on an ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”

“Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies,” he said.

Sudan’s war began in April 2023, when the RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other. Their conflict has killed more than 24,000 people, has forced millions to flee their homes and has left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.

Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the war.

The sanctions announced by the U.S. include several businesses based in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, including one handling gold likely smuggled out of Sudan.

The UAE has been repeatedly accused of arming the RSF, something the UAE has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary.

Emirati officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. The RSF could not be immediately reached for comment.

Blinken said his determination was not intended to support either side in the conflict but rather to promote accountability for war crimes and other atrocities.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at Ishiba's office in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP)