Harbour extravaganza: The Tourism Commission launches the "Symphony of Lights" to provide another attraction for visitors.

Choreographed light and sound show "A Symphony of Lights" will be launched on January 17. The first of its kind anywhere, the show will be a permanent enhancement to Hong Kong's harbour night scene.

The show combines special interactive light and musical effects to tell the story of Hong Kong by showcasing the 18 key buildings along the Victoria Harbour waterfront. It will be supplemented by rooftop fireworks displays in the first month.

This 18-minute multimedia spectacle, produced by the Tourism Commission, will be staged at 8pm nightly, except January 21-23, when other major Lunar New Year celebrations are planned.

Tourism trade welcomes show

"We are very excited that 'A Symphony of Lights' has already generated a favourable response from the tourism trade," the Tourism Commission said. "We understand that many tour packages are being developed using the show as the focus of their marketing.

"We are also grateful for the trade's useful comments on the preview, on the basis of which we have refined the show. We are confident that the show will attract tourists to Hong Kong and stimulate local consumption."

Music, narrative broadcast on radio

For the first month, the show's music and narrative will be broadcast in Cantonese at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. At the same time, the broadcast can be heard on the radio. Commercial Radio AM 864 will feature Cantonese, Metro Broadcast AM 1044 English, and RTHK AM621 Putonghua.

The soundtrack in CD format will be made available for harbour tour ferries and hotels free of charge upon request.

18 buildings participate

The launch ceremony will be held at 7.45pm on January 17 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza.

The 18 participating buildings are:

* Bank of China Tower;

* Central Plaza;

* Cheung Kong Centre;

* Harcourt House;

* Hong Kong City Hall;

* Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre;

* HSBC Main Building;

* Jardine House;

* Mass Mutual Tower;

* One Exchange Square & Two Exchange Square;

*International Finance Centre 1 & 2;

* Queensway Government Offices;

* Sun Hung Kai Centre;

* The Centre;

* The Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building; and

* The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.