Business News
Hundreds buy tickets for ferry ride into history
By DPA
Oct 29, 2006, 8:01 GMT

Hong Kong - Hundreds of people have bought tickets for four rides on the historic Star Ferry that plies across Victoria Harbour to mark the end of the existing Hong Kong Island ferry pier, a media report said Sunday.

People started queueing from 5 a.m. Saturday to buy the 1,800 tickets, which cost about 11 dollars and went on sale six and a half hours later, the South China Morning Post said. Ticket proceeds will be donated to charity.

The special tickets were for four final cross-harbour trips between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon at midnight on November 11 to mark the end of the 49-year old ferry pier on Hong Kong Island.

The pier is being demolished as part of a reclamation scheme to create new land for rail and road links.

A replacement structure has already been built but has been criticised for being too far away from the existing central business district. People will have to walk an extra 400 metres to reach the new facility.

Commenting on the demolition of the pier, 13-year school student Li Ka-ho criticised the government for leaving nothing of the old Hong Kong for young people to learn about.

'Old architecture should be kept so that we can learn about what Hong Kong was like and how it has evolved,' he said.