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　　People watch 'The Anooki Shake Up' by French artists Moetu Batlle and David Passegand being projected onto the General Post Office building during the opening of Lumieres Hong Kong in the city's Central district
Glowing cartoon Inuits tumbled down Hong Kong's post office building and a forest of illuminated bamboo rods lit up the city centre as part of a visit by France's famous Lumieres festival.


Local and international artists joined the extension of Lyon's Fête des Lumières in a city well known for its ubiquitous neon signs cheap air max 360 , giant billboards, flashy skyscrapers and a nightly harbourfront light show.


The three-night show, which launched Thursday, saw light creations beamed onto some of Hong Kong's landmark heritage buildings, with other installations brightening shopping areas and parks.


Local artist Keith Lam said the festival went some way to addressing Hong Kong's lack of publicly accessible artworks.


"The streets and the public spaces in Hong Kong are so tight and dense and there are so many people, so it's a challenge to do public art," Lam told AFP.


Hong Kong currently lacks a world class art museum, and marquee exhibitions rarely make a stop in the southern Chinese city, where graffiti by high-profile artists is often removed and it can be difficult to secure permission for public shows.


Lam, a new media artist, displayed his "Heliocentric" installation which featured a three dimensional combination of rings laced with LED lights at the PMQ, a former police residence turned creative hub.

　　People walk past French artist Christophe Mayer's 'Bamboo Square' installation in Statue Square Gardens during the opening of Lumieres Hong Kong in the city's Central district

Passersby said the installations were a welcome relief in a busy city.


"I think it's great for the whole culture, and also for everyone who is getting off work and able to embrace so much art in front of them," said one visitor to the illuminated bamboo display in central Statue Square.


The Lyon festival, which started in the 19th century, will take place in early December, with light displays adorning the French city's streets, public squares and bridges.

　　Photo taken on Nov. 22, 2017 shows the illuminated Hong Kong Post during the preview of "Lumieres Hong Kong", the city's first ever light festival, in south China's Hong Kong. The event will run from Nov. 23 to 25. (XinhuaLiu Yun)

Donald Trump's first anniversary as US president was marred by chaos on Saturday (Jan 20) as Congress struggled to reverse a government shutdown and mass demonstrations erupted in cities across the country.


Essential federal services and military activity are continuing, but hundreds of thousands of public sector workers will be sent home without wages and even active duty troops will not be paid until a deal is reached to reopen the US government.


Highlighting the deep political polarisation, crowds estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands took to the streets of major US cities to march against the president and his policies.


"This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present," Trump, who is in Washington instead of celebrating the anniversary at his Mar-a-Lago resort, wrote on Twitter in reference to the shutdown.


"Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border," he tweeted, later accusing the opposition party of "holding our Military hostage."


The impact of the shutdown will be felt more strongly if it lasts into the coming work week.


But signs that the government was not open for business were already appearing on Saturday.


"The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island are closed due to a lapse in appropriations," a notice on the National Park Service's website said, while a sign at US military cemetery in France where 4,409 Americans are buried read: "Due to the US Government shutdown, this site is closed to the public."


Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wrote in a memo that "daily operations around the world" will continue, but "training for reservists must be curtailed" and that "active forces will stay at their posts adapting their training to achieve the least negative impact on our readiness to fight."


'HOLDING PATTERN'


There have been four government shutdowns since 1990. In the last one in 2013, more than 800,000 government workers were put on temporary leave.


"We're just in a holding pattern. We just have to wait and see. It's scary," Noelle Joll, a 50-year-old furloughed US government employee, told AFP in Washington.


Joll was also affected by the 2013 shutdown, but "this one feels a lot more ominous," she said.


"I think our members are frustrated, they're disappointed in the president and members of Congress that they're not funding the government - doing their job - as we do our jobs every day," J David Cox, the president of one of the largest unions representing government workers, said on CNN.