Hong Kong welcomed 223,000 tourists on New Year’s Eve, marking the highest number of single-day arrivals in 2023, but thousands were stranded overnight at a train station while trying to return to mainland China.
The Tourism Board revealed on Monday morning the number of visitors in the city as of 10pm on Sunday, and attributed the influx to what it called the “biggest-ever” New Year’s Eve fireworks.
The fireworks, a 12-minute display themed “New Year, New Legend”, drew 479,000 revellers on both sides of Victoria Harbour, the board said.
According to the Immigration Department, 195,888 visitors from the mainland came to the city on Sunday, accounting for 87 per cent of total tourist arrivals.
Despite MTR train services operating throughout the night, services to the border stations of Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoints were not available overnight,…
