Hong Kong goes dim one hour for better environment
Saturday, March 28, 2009HONG KONG (Xinhua) -- To combat climate change, more than 1,800 buildings in Hong Kong joined the Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday night by switching off the lights for one hour.
Some 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries and regions participated in the event organized by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) which aimed to arouse people's awareness about environmental issues.
In Hong Kong, landmarks including International Finance Center and Tsing Ma Bridge, were joining some 1,800 other buildings, 600 companies and organizations, over 160 schools and all universities, as well as thousands of people across the city to call for an action for climate change.
The city began to go into darkness at 8:30 p.m. when neon signs and lights of buildings across Hong Kong started to go out. Tourist attraction Symphony of Lights in the Victoria Harbor was suspended to show support.
Businesses at commercial areas of the city dimmed their lights, while bars and restaurants in famous tourist spot Lan Kwai Fong and Wanchai were lit up with candles to spread the message.
Chairman of WWF Hong Kong Trevor Yang said on Saturday at the launching ceremony that such simple action would have reverberations into the future.
He said that WWF would make this global voice to Copenhagen in December, where leaders will be coming together to make decisions about green gas emissions and climate change.
Apart from Hong Kong, which is famous for its neon light night scenes, Sydney's Opera House, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and London's City Hall were also among some of the world's famous landmarks that went dark in the event.
In 2008, 50 million people from 370 cities on seven continents joined the Earth Hour.
