HONG KONG (REUTERS) - A "bottle flip" brightened the moods of Hong Kongers waiting near a closed Mass Transit Railway (MTR) station last Saturday (Sept 7), in a moment that has since gone viral on social media.

Hong Kong protesters took to the Internet to praise the man who, in a video shared over 4,000 times on Facebook, could be seen walking up to nearby riot police after successfully flipping a water bottle.

Footage showed police first talking to the bottle flipper before proceeding to walk away from Tung Chung MTR station.

Comments on social media said the "uncle" had chased away the officers, though it was not clear what caused police to leave the scene.

Police closed the station last Saturday after hundreds of residents thronged it for what protesters refer to as a "stress test" of road and rail links in the Chinese-ruled city.

The same station was closed the week before, after protesters smashed ticket vending machines and ticket gantries.