Rise and fall of Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui East reflected in Christmas and New Year lights

Long before the Avenue of Stars and the West Kowloon Cultural District where Hong Kong residents land tourists congregate during the festive season, there was Tsim Sha Tsui East.

The new business area emerged in the early 1980s after the strip of Victoria Harbour between Hung Hom and Tsim Sha Tsui was reclaimed.

With common commercial interests the Tsim Sha Tsui East Property Developers Association was formed. In 1983, it launched the TSTE Festive Illuminations, with all the property owners agreeing to invest in decorating their buildings with colourful lights.

It was a sight to behold. “It was on every building, not just the square around the park,” recalls Regina Mok, an executive who grew up in the Kowloon area. “The decorated buildings went all along Salisbury Road and into Nathan Road too.”

“Around the holidays, a lot of people go out with their families to see the lights,” said Diego Bozzolan, director of Sabatini restaurant inside the Royal Garden hotel, who has worked there since 1992.