Mainland singing sensation Zhou Shen ushered in the new year by making history as the first artist to headline and host a New Year’s countdown at the newly inaugurated Kai Tak Sports Park Main Stadium in Hong Kong. The unprecedented two-night “Deep Deep” world tour stop in Hong Kong, held on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, drew massive international attention and sparked an elaborate, multi-platform fan support campaign across the city.
The concerts, which firmly placed Hong Kong as a major regional entertainment hub for the holiday period, were the direct result of high-level interest from local officials. Following Zhou Shen’s performance at the opening of the fourth Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cultural and Arts Festival last October, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung frequently expressed his department’s desire to host the acclaimed singer.
Ticket Frenzy Underscores Regional Demand
The public sale of tickets in November demonstrated the enormous international demand for the event. Tickets were reportedly snapped up almost instantly, with reports indicating over half a million users were simultaneously online attempting to secure a seat, rendering tickets nearly impossible to obtain.
In the run-up to the highly anticipated shows, the concert promoter launched an exhaustive city-wide advertising blitz. Large-scale outdoor advertisements were strategically placed in prime locations, including outside the Red-Kowloon Cross Harbour Tunnel, and key retail epicenters like Sogo, Times Square, and Tsim Sha Tsui. The promotional campaign extended to bus and tram wraps, creating numerous photo opportunities for devoted fans—or shengmi (rice grains), as supporters are affectionately known.
Further amplifying the excitement, a dedicated “Zhou Shen Support Zone” was established at the Central Harbourfront Event Space, featuring installations based on his signature IP characters, Zhou Keke and Zhou Baibai, integrated with classic Hong Kong motifs.
Fans Blend Pop Culture with Traditional Heritage
The passionate support from Zhou Shen’s global fanbase was multifaceted, spanning digital platforms and physical spaces. Fan organizations from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and overseas collaborated to saturate public areas with large-screen advertisements, essentially transforming the Kai Tak MTR station, the primary transit point for the venue, into a temporary “Zhou Shen Station” for the duration of the event.
One of the most notable and distinctly Hong Kong-themed initiatives was the “Deep Sail, Guiding the Way, Rice Grains Gather at Fragrant Harbour” project, organized by the “Rice Grains Gather Deep Sea” collective, comprising local and international fan groups.
Recognizing the iconic visual of traditional Chinese junks sailing across Victoria Harbour, often seen in classic Hollywood films, organizers sought to intertwine modern pop culture with the city’s invaluable cultural heritage. They successfully chartered the Duk Ling, Hong Kong’s oldest remaining operational traditional Chinese sailing junk—a vessel with over 70 years of history.
Between December 29 and January 2, the historic craft was temporarily transformed into a “Zhou Shen Themed Boat.” The project organizer explained that this unique design symbolized how Zhou Shen’s music, like the ancient sailboat, could traverse cultural boundaries and time, sailing toward the future while honoring tradition—a profound fusion of contemporary fame and intangible cultural heritage. The themed junk sailed across Victoria Harbour daily for several hours, providing an unmissable spectacle for fans and tourists alike on the shores of Tsim Sha Tsui and Central.
The sell-out success and the large-scale international mobilization for this landmark event reinforce Hong Kong’s status as a premier destination for global mega-concerts, particularly as the Kai Tak stadium complex becomes fully operational. The spectacle set a new benchmark for cross-border cultural exchange and fan engagement in the Greater Bay Area.
