From trams to billboards to roadside banners, Hong Kong is awash in a sea of celebratory slogans heralding the upcoming Handover anniversary of the city’s return to China.

Handover anniversary banner bridge
Banners heralding Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary on a footbridge near West Kowloon Station. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
tram 25th handover anniversary
A tram marking Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
25th Handover anniversary banners central pier
Banners marking Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary at Edinburgh Place in Central. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

With the tagline “A new era – stability, prosperity and opportunity,” the city is toasting 25 years of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The milestone also marks the halfway point of the One Country, Two Systems framework under which Hong Kong has been governed since 1997.

police officers west kowloon handover anniversary banner xi jinping welcome
Police officers patrol near West Kowloon Station as a banner welcoming Chinese leader Xi Jinping hangs on a street barricade. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
handover anniversary welcome xi jinping
A billboard atop a skyscraper in Wan Chai reads “warmly welcome Chairperson Xi Jinping’s attendance at Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary celebrations.” Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

Bright red banners reading “warmly welcome Chairperson Xi Jinping’s attendance at Hong Kong’s 25th anniversary celebration and inauguration of the sixth term SAR government” have also been hung around the city. The Chinese leader is expected to visit Hong Kong for the occasion.

handover anniversary banner west kowloon workers
Workers trim shrubs near West Kowloon Station, as a banner welcoming Chinese president Xi Jinping’s appearance at Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary celebrations hangs on a street barrier. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
25th handover anniversary billboard
A billboard outside the Central Police Station heralding Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
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A bus marking Hong Kong’s 25th Handover anniversary. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

Police have ramped up security outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, where the celebrations will be held, and the West Kowloon Station. The Chinese leader is rumoured to be taking the high speed rail via the station to travel to Hong Kong.

Convention and Exhibition Centre police
A police van outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
25th handover anniversary banner
A 25th Handover anniversary banner seen through security barriers outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
west kowloon station police officers footbridge banners anniversary handover
Police officers on a footbridge near the West Kowloon Station. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

Meanwhile, Chinese and Hong Kong flags have adorned the city from Wan Chai to Tsuen Wan, turning the displays into photography spots.

China Hong Kong flags Lee Tung Avenue
China and Hong Kong flags at Lee Tung Avenue in Wan Chai. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.
july 1 flags tsuen wan
China and Hong Kong flags in Tsuen Wan. Photo: Almond Li/HKFP.

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Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.