Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong hotel’s Christmas cake trains ensure charity efforts on the right track
- Kowloon Shangri-La’s carriage-shaped ‘Wagon Train’ confections, in white-and-green-icing livery, sold at Christmas tree lighting ceremony to help Operation Santa Claus
- This year’s annual Hong Kong fundraising initiative – organised jointly by South China Morning Post and RTHK – will support 16 charities
A team of artisan bakers in Hong Kong have created Christmas cake trains, specially decorated in green-and-white-icing livery, to get Kowloon Shangri-La’s annual charity fundraising efforts on the right track.
The “Enchanted Wonders” theme for this year’s Christmas celebrations at the Hong Kong hotel helped to inspire the special design of the limited-edition “Wagon Train” dry fruit cake confections, which are shaped like classic steam train carriages.
The hotel has been supporting local charities for decades, and this year it chose to sell the HK$450 (US$58) cakes at its Christmas tree lighting ceremony on December 1 and donate all the proceeds to the Operation Santa Claus (OSC) campaign.
OSC is an annual fundraising initiative organised jointly by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK.
Since 1988, the campaign has raised HK$369 million to support the Hong Kong community through 338 charitable projects.
Early white Christmas for Hong Kong festive market supporting Operation Santa Claus
Officiating at Kowloon Shangri-La’s event – attended by Father Christmas and emceed by Canadian actress Linna Huynh – were hotel general manager Christopher Chia, South China Morning Post general counsel Paul Wong and RTHK’s head of English programme service, Jim Gould.
“It is that time of year again … it’s Christmas,” Chia said before joining Wong and Gould to switch on the tree lights.
“So quickly the year has gone by and we have so much to be thankful for. We have finally put Covid behind us.
“[The] past nine months, life and business came roaring back, thanks to your loyalty and support through the years … in good times and more so in challenging times.”
Christmas decorations in the hotel’s lobby this year include the spectacular six-metre (20-foot) Christmas tree adorned with lights, ribbons and baubles, and an airship carrying dozens of the hotel’s red-uniformed Edward Bus Boy toy pandas.
A display with a model steam train pulling three “Wagon Train” fruit cake carriages through a snowy landscape populated by penguins was also placed outside Cafe Kool, on the Mezzanine Level.
The lobby’s Christmas market stall offers sweet and savoury treats, such as handcrafted chocolates, German stollen, gingerbread houses, minced pies and festive hampers.
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Chefs created special festive snacks and drinks for guests including eggnog doughnuts, chocolate praline mini logs, mulled wine panna cotta and yellow Nutcracker’s Nog Cocktails.
During the event, Hong Kong’s SWAN Academy Children’s Choir, comprising 28 kindergarten, primary and secondary school pupils, entertained guests with festive songs such as Christmas Tree, Silver Bells, Seven Feet of Snow, Christmas is a Time to Love, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
“This year’s Christmas theme for Shangri-La is ‘Enchanted Wonders’,” Chia said. “All these elements that you see, the penguins, the train, the airship … we hope all these whimsical items will bring a smile on your face as it brings out the child in all of us at this season … finding the wonder and joy in the most simple of things.
“While it has been a wonderful year for us here at Kowloon Shangri-La, we do not forget those who are less fortunate than us.”
Funds raised during this year’s OSC campaign will go to 16 charities, including those supporting youth, the elderly, people with medical conditions and those with mental and physical disabilities.
