China Travel Forum

[Tim]

I'll be in HK on New Year's Eve, staying at the Kowloon Shangri-La and I've
heard that the T-S-T promenade is one of the popular places for the
"countdown" and you need to get there a couple of hours in advance to "bag"
a spot. Is this an exaggeration?
I've also been told that Chinese restaurants don't have special New Year
parties, but do they still get very crowded on that night? In other words,
will we need to book somewhere in advance, or do you think we can just find
somewhere and walk in off the street?
I'm concerned that if we go out to eat at our normal time of around 9-ish,
we could wait hours to get served and not be able to make it back to the
promenade in front of our hotel in time for midnight. Am I worrying over
nothing?

[Edmund]

You indeed do need to get to the promenade a couple of hours early in
order to bag a spot. More, the crowds are so vast that it might take
an hour or more to get home.
The other popular places like Lan Kwai Fong and Times Square are
similary crowded. The crowd control measures by the police are not a
wet blanket measure but we had an accident in the early nineties that
nobody wants to repeat.
There should be no trouble getting served at nine - ish. It'll be
service as usual. But it might be difficult if you finish at ten and
then go out to try to get to a good vantage point.