BEIJING -- About 20 Chinese cities joined a worldwide relay on Saturday night to switch off lights of major buildings for one hour to highlight concerns about climate change while calling for actions.
Tens of thousands of Chinese either turned off lights and appliances at home or joined outdoor activities such as candle-lit dinners and star-gazing parties, to show their support.
The iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium and the "Water Cube" National Aquatics Center in northern Beijing, usually illuminated by floodlights, went dark completely at 8:30 p.m. local time (1230GMT).
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A combination picture shows China's National Aquatics Center "Water Cube" in Beijng before (L) and after the lights were turned off for Earth Hour March 28, 2009. About 20 Chinese cities joined a worldwide campaign to persuade the public to switch off unnecessary lights for one hour Saturday night to support energy-saving efforts and show concerns about global warming. [Xinhua]
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Dozens of glitzy hotels, office buildings, shopping malls and restaurants in the capital also switched some lights off for 60 minutes.
At a hotel next to the "Bird's Nest", more than 100 officials, dignitaries and journalists gathered to witness the symbolic ceremony which unveiled the China leg of Earth Hour, the global campaign organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
"I hope tonight's activity will inspire everyone to make energy saving a daily habit," Chinese actress Li Bingbing, an ambassador of Earth Hour campaign in China, said at the ceremony.
Famed Chinese pianist Lang Lang also appeared in a short video clip on the popular website Youtube.com, appealing his countrymen to "turn off lights" and support climate change action.
In Shanghai, China's financial hub, floodlights to illuminate some 160buildings, including the world's third tallest TV tower "Oriental Pearl" and the 492-meter-tall World Financial Center, also went down.
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A combination picture shows a view of the Bund on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai before (above) and during Earth Hour March 28, 2009. [Xinhua]
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Skyscrapers with glowing windows dominating the night skyline are usually considered symbols of affluence and modernization in China. But Saturday night, going dark became trendy.
"I come here just to watch the Oriental Pearl to switch off lights. It's very special tonight because it sends an environmental message to us," citizen Yang Zheying said while standing under the tower.
In many Shanghai outlets of international fast food chain KFC, people enjoyed candle-lit dinners after the restaurants dimmed lights.
KFC said in a statement earlier that more than 1,300 outlets in29 Chinese cities would participate the Earth Hour activities.
Initiated in Australia in 2007, Earth Hour is a time zone-by-time zone plan in which people around the world are encouraged to switch off their lights for 60 minutes on the last Saturday night of March to show their concern about global warming and climate change.
About 3,000 cities in more than 80 countries and regions will join this year's campaign, compared with 35 countries last year, according to the organization.
WWF official Wang Limin said in Shanghai that the campaign aimed to send out more and clearer messages to world leaders before they meet in Copenhagen in December to craft a new global pact on curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.
