Gaudy, but unbelievably popular: Hong Kong's holiday decorations

You know you're in Hong Kong for Christmas when you find yourself bombarded by big, bright and fantastical displays.

'Tis the season for every shopping mall to compete for the most outrageous, most tourist-drawing, most newsworthy holiday decorations, each one of them with a distinctly Hong Kong feel.

Here is a guide to what makes a popular Hong Kong Christmas display:

1. Appeal to females and children

At 1881 Heritage, the oversized carousel and the signature Tiffany & Co. tree are over-the-top in an elegant way. They are also perfect bait for kids and ladies, the two groups of consumers most likely to spend and be spent upon. Kudos to you, you big, bad, beautiful brandwear mall.

For an added touch of whimsy, mini-displays encased in plastic bubbles dot the lawns at 1881 Heritage. This one looks like it just floated in from the planet Zog where teapots are a mascot of noble warriors and purple is color of joy and courage.

2. Christmas is purple

Speaking of purple, Shug in "The Color Purple" famously says: "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

Hong Kong's Christmas display designers seem to have all read that book, as evidenced by this lilac-washed Harbour City display. The "Champagne Tree" is made of huge flutes of purple and gold champagne.

It is scenes like this one at Harbour City that warms the hearts of marketing directors city-wide.

When the amateur photographers flock to your Christmas display, that means you've got a winner. When they go to the trouble of hiring a girl to pose in the photos and don a sexy Santa's helper costume, you've hit it clear out of left field.

3. Clear the budget

Christmas is the time to loosen purse strings, and if you have a year's budget to make full and good use of, the year-end Christmas display is the last chance.

Elements mall spent HK$25 million on Christmas festivities this year. From December 24-27 the mall will feature various performances, discounts, and this display made from paper will be ongoing.

Dutch artist Ingrid Siliakus made this display out of laser-cut paper that is hand-folded into the 20-foot tall architecture.

Wonder if gran is aware that she is next to a HK$500,000 Christmas tree. The stunner is made of 250 sets of Royal Wedgwood bone china tea sets. Coupled with the paper architecture, Elements' display is officially the most fragile one in town.

4. Go cute or foreign. Preferably both

Christmas is about escapism, and Langham Place had the ingenuity to combine doyenne of cute Hello Kitty with a fantasy trip to London (and note the generous use of purple).

We spot Big Ben, the London Eye and a red double-decker in what is probably Hong Kong's most popular Christmas display this year.

Hello Kitty. Love it or hate it, it's a no-brainer for attracting shoppers to Langham Place this year.

5. When in doubt: Swarovski

Something about Swarovski appeals to Hong Kongers immensely. Their collaboration with the Hong Kong Tourism Board was an inevitability.

As part of the HKTB's Winterfest program, Swarovski put up this 30-meter outdoor Crystal Christmas Tree at Statue Square in Central. Plated with mirrors in gold and silver, the tree is embellished with more than 20 million Swarovski crystals.

The tree does things. From 7-9:30 p.m. every night, at intervals of 15 minutes, the tree performs a light show that is coordinated with music and the water fountain next to it. Check out a video of the show at asia.swarovski.com.