China's first spaceman Yang Liwei visited several scenic spots in Hong Kong Sunday, where he was greeted by exciting Hong Kong residents and tourists.

Yang's itinerary started with a tour of the Victoria Harbor in a foggy weather. The astronaut enjoyed the beautiful scenery in a high spirit.

Yang then paid a visit to the Bank of China Tower in Central, where Bank of China (Hong Kong) presented a check of 500,000 HK dollars (US$64,000) to the "China Space Foundation" in support of China's research and development of space technology.

After mid-day, he went on sightseeing at the Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's longest road-and-rail suspension bridge at 2.2 kilometers which links the Lantau Island and the new Hong Kong International Airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

The spaceman hailed the bridge as spectacular.

Many media workers, Hong Kong residents and tourists waited for several hours at the above-mentioned places for a chance to meet China's space hero.

Yang, along with a delegation of China's first manned space mission, arrived here Friday afternoon to pay a six-day visit at the invitation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2003)