Aircraft carrier Liaoning open to Hong Kong crowd

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China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, welcomed on Saturday an eager crowd of Hong Kong residents after arriving in the Special Administrative Region on Friday.

The fleet, which includes destroyers Jinan and Yinchuan and frigate Yantai, is in Hong Kong till July 11 as part of the celebrations marking 20 years since Hong Kong returned to China.

The Liaoning is open to the public till Sunday.

Visitors take photos while soldiers march. /VCG Photo

The first groups of visitors on board have expressed their joy, with many posing in "Hangmu style." The gesture, which went viral in 2012, is made by conductors as Shenyang J-15 fighter jets take off from the aircraft carrier.

Visitors pose in "Hangmu style" on the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. /CGTN Photo

Some gathered in groups and shouted "We love China" on the deck, while old citizens who were born on the Chinese mainland and raised in Hong Kong got emotional and shed tears during the tour.

“I‘m very excited. I have been in Hong Kong since I was a child,” a visitor said. "I'm excited to see our motherland so powerful."

An old couple holds the national flag of China while touring the aircraft carrier. /VCG Photo

The two-day exhibition is expected to attract approximately 50,000 visitors.

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