Hong Kong people join the Mainlanders to celebrate China’s National Day while huge number of tourists travels from China to Hong Kong for the festivities.
October 1 marks the 57th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since Hong Kong- the former British colony- returned to the mother country in 1997, the day has been gaining importance in the society.
In Hong Kong, a series of events, including a flag-raising ceremony, a reception, a variety show and fireworks will be held, the Hong Kong government reported in the press release. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang will join other Executive and Legislative councilors, consular corps, heads of missions in Hong Kong, senior government officials and members of community sectors at the National Day reception. A spectacular fireworks display, lasting for about 23 minutes, will start at night over Victoria Harbor.
Many Mainland Chinese have also taken advantage of the government-enforced "Golden Week" (Oct. 1-7) holiday to travel to Hong Kong, according to the report of the official state news agency Xinhua.net. Christian organizations consider this a golden opportunity to share the Gospel with Mainland Chinese people at the famous tourist spots.
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) has launched a special campaign "Gospel Week" that aims to preach the Gospel to the children in China. CEF invites local churches and fellowships to send a team of volunteers to some of the most popular tourist spots to distribute some Gospel CDs to children. The CD contains a Gospel story, stories about Jesus, some hymns and computer games. The campaign will run from Oct. 2-6. It has proven to be very successful last year.
According to the latest international religious freedom report published by the U.S. Department of State, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy in the area of religious freedom under the "one country, two systems" concept. Just across the border, Mainland China has always been severely criticized for its disrespect to international human rights, including religious freedom.
China adopted the three annual Golden Weeks of the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival), Labor Day (May 1-7), and the country's National Day(October 1-7) in 1999.
As the Mid-autumn Day, China's traditional festival for family reunions falls on October 6 this year, some tourists are expected extend their holiday, deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration Wang Zhifa said to Xinhua.
