People walk at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbor to celebrate the New Year's Eve of year 2021, in Hong Kong, Dec 31, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

HONG KONG - "Three, two, one!" When the clock struck at midnight on Friday, a video featuring fireworks and lighting effects over Hong Kong's iconic Victoria Harbor was released online to mark the beginning of the year 2021.

The show featured 1,000 unmanned aerial vehicles creating a number of colorful festive patterns, including Hong Kong's iconic Tsing Ma Bridge, the Golden Bauhinia and the Big Buddha over Victoria Harbor

This is the first-ever online "Hong Kong New Year Countdown Celebrations", organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). On New Year's Eve, people in Hong Kong and different parts of the world joined the countdown and celebrated the arrival of the New Year with the spectacular online video.

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In the two-minute video, Chinese characters and English words including "Hong Kong", "good luck", "love", "happiness", "health" and "prosperity" were shown in the night sky of Victoria Harbor and on the facades of Hong Kong's iconic landmarks.

Apart from HKTB's spectacular video, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong, broadcast a four-hour variety show to celebrate the New Year that it co-produced for the first time with some mainland video websites.

The show featured 1,000 unmanned aerial vehicles creating a number of colorful festive patterns, including Hong Kong's iconic Tsing Ma Bridge, the Golden Bauhinia and the Big Buddha over Victoria Harbor.

There were also other performances such as dancing and singing in the variety show. Over the past year, "fighting COVID-19" has become a key word across the country. A number of musicians paid tribute to frontline medical workers, volunteers and primary level workers.

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Affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, HKTB has adjusted a number of holiday celebrations, including the cancellation of the 2021 fireworks countdown originally scheduled for Dec. 31 and the float parade during the Spring Festival.

Every year, Hong Kong holds a string of large-scale events to celebrate the New Year. On the night of Dec. 31 in previous years, the HKTB set off fireworks on both sides of Victoria Harbor to welcome the arrival of the New Year.