Hong Kong gears up for National Games torch relay, with 50 people to take part

Fifty people will take part in the Hong Kong section of a torch relay to be held on Sunday, a week before the start of the National Games, with the route chosen to showcase “the best side” of the city and arouse the public’s interest.

At a briefing on Monday, police expressed confidence in their crowd management arrangements for the relay while transport officials urged members of the public to use the railway system on the day of the event.

The November 2 relay will be held seven days before the start of the Games, which Hong Kong is co-hosting with Macau and Guangdong province. It will feature 200 torch-bearers across Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The relay will start at 9.30am on Sunday at the government’s headquarters in Tamar Park, with the route taking in the Central harbourfront and Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai before the torch travels across the harbour by ferry.

The relay will pick back up along the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront from the Star Ferry pier to about Mody Lane, when torch-bearers will board an open-deck bus to taken them to Kai Tak Sports Park, where the ceremony will end.

It is expected to last about two hours.