Christmas celebrations started yesterday with Hongkongers choosing to go out or leave the city, as many residents passed through immigration checkpoints and MTR trains had the highest number of passengers using the service during the winter solstice.
More than 764,000 people had entered and exited Hong Kong yesterday, with more than 230,000 leaving through Lo Wu alone, Immigration Department figures show.
The department estimated earlier that 7.67 million would pass through its checkpoints during the Christmas and New Year period.
Yesterday, more than 59,000 people took flights out of Hong Kong and 48,000 arrived. During the winter solstice on Friday, MTR Corp recorded 2.94 million passengers using its trains in its regular 19-hour service day.
It broke the record it set on December 15 when the number of passengers hit 2.85 million.
About 35,000 Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus at Hong Kong Stadium in Happy Valley last night by praying in a live television link-up with more than 2 million faithful around the world at the same time.
