HONG KONG - The Year of 2014 hit Hong Kong with a bang on Tuesday night with HK$13 million (S$2.13 million) worth of explosives fired off in a massive fireworks display above Victoria Harbour, the largest ever in the city.

Some 400,000 people braved the cold weather to gather on both sides of the harbour to watch the pyrotechnics show.

Fireworks, launched from both land and sea, lit up the skyline over the harbour as the clock struck midnight. Smiley faces, hearts, as well as special "shooting stars" in silver, green, gold and red, were featured in the sky, exuding cheerfulness.

The eight-minute fireworks extravaganza, surrounding the iconic Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre where Britain handed over the city's sovereignty to China in 1997, ushered the city into the new year.

Many couples picked the moments that straddle 2013 and 2014 to make their love vows as the pronunciation of "1314" is similar to that of "a life time" in Chinese, with one reveller, 28-year-old James Ma, planting a kiss on his girlfriend and saying: "My New Year wish is that we can be together forever!"