Holiday cheer is in full swing as shopping malls and brands unveiled magical decorations, and plans for musical performances and festive activities through the end of the year. Major retailers have to come up with refreshing celebrations to surprise their guests to acquire footfall, maximise exposure and drive revenue in this competitive period. To honour the most wonderful time of the year, shopping malls and shop windows are adorned with holiday scenes that feature gold, glitter, fake snow, Santa’s workshop, elves, gift boxes, toys, trains and more.
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Here we have rounded up some of 2021 holiday displays across Asia.
LANDMARK, HONG KONG
LANDMARK ATRIUM is transformed into a spectacular Christmas party gathering a family of toy friends in their Christmas Joy House. Visitors are greeted by a soaring 28-metre long Christmas train that represents a journey through time – with 11 train carts from classic to futuristic – and 15 characters taking a joy ride on the train across the ceiling. The installation features the toy friends busy cooking, decorating or wrapping gifts. Fun activities, photo taking sessions and charity booths are also available.
OMOTESANDO HILLS, JAPAN
The theme of this year’s Christmas illuminations is “100 twinkle sounds ~ Fanfare for the future ~”, featuring an authentic 7-meter Christmas tree. The tree is decorated with 100 reused wind instruments, cloud-shaped glowing balls, metallic ball ornaments, ribbon, and LED illuminations. In the 2-minute special sound and light production that takes place every 20 minutes, the cloud-shaped glowing balls and LED illuminations blink in time with the Christmas song, while the entire atrium space shines.
ifc mall, HONG KONG
ifc mall collaborates with the Orient Express to present the first-ever “Orient Express is coming to town” Christmas Installation. Visitors set foot onto the ifc mall “Grand Central Station” and step aboard the midnight blue train carriage to retrace the legacy of Orient Express since 1883. They can embark on a luxurious railroad journey from present to past, East to West, to create their own Christmas memories.
SHINSEGAE MAIN DEPARTMENT STORE, SOUTH KOREA
Shinsegae Duty Free is well-known for its colourful and eye-catching Christmas and holiday season decorations at its flagship Myeong-dong store in Seoul. And this year is no exception. Its circus-themed exterior lights display tells a three-minute story and includes a tight-rope show which uses 1.4 million LED chips. The video ends with a ‘Magical moments for you’ message to wish visitors a happy end of year.
PACIFIC PLACE, HONG KONG
Pacific Place is taking visitors to Mt. Christmas Resort, an alpine retreat hosted by Santa and a Yeti family. Activities include: story telling sessions, virtual skiing adventure, a Baby Yeti hunt for the kids, live performances by the Hong Kong Philharmonic and an AR Santa experience. Families are invited to explore the area and partake in online Christmas workshops.
PAVILION KL, MALAYSIA
Pavilion KL presents an enchanting ‘Mystical Christmas’. Shoppers can explore the snow village at Pavilion KL’s Centre Court, featuring quaint stalls, jolly snowmen, festive reindeers and mystical fairies. A 30-foot fairy Christmas tree is nestled between lush poinsettia gardens and sparkling trees. Outside the mall, visitors can catch Coach ‘Give A Little Love’ Bespoke Holiday Installation, as numerous animals walk along a snowy landscape around the Pavilion Crystal Fountain, heading to the front of the Coach store.
HARBOUR CITY, HONG KONG
The entire Harbour City shopping mall transforms into a “Christmas Terminal”. Visitors embark on a journey at the “Christmas Cookies Departure Hall” in Ocean Terminal Forecourt where Cookie-shaped animals are set to take off and are then invited to pass through the “Baggage Conveyor Belt” Lighting Tunnel before they stock up on cookie-shaped souvenirs at the “Christmas Gift Shop”.
KITTE, JAPAN
Running within the KITTE Marunouchi shopping mall next to Tokyo Station, White KITTE is a Christmas light-up event featuring a large tree and decorations made from washi—traditional Japanese paper.
SUNWAY MALLS, MALAYSIA
While malls are gearing up to display their grandiose holiday décor, Sunway is going down a different route and instead will be channelling their festive budget towards helping those in need through their “Together For Good” campaign. Each of Sunway Malls will have their own dedicated space for members of the public to do their part and contribute accordingly, with proceeds sent directly to the partner organisations for the respective malls. Each mall has been designated a Christmas hero such as a teddy bear, a magical fairy, Santa’s elves, a gingerbread man, and reindeer that will feature throughout the malls’ themes and décor, as well as be present in the Augmented Reality (AR) games.
CAPITOL SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Capitol Singapore is inviting shoppers to take a Ride Into an Enchanted Christmas. Visitors can shop, play, sing and more to get into a true and festive Christmas mood. This year, the mall launched a collaboration with Sidecar Singapore. The fun does not stop there. There is a Christmas market, holiday workshops, photo taking sessions, skating and more.
HYUNDAI DEPARTMENT STORE, SOUTH KOREA
Hyundai Department Store unveiled ‘H Village’, which consists of a 13 meter tall tree, a cabin house, and 120 trees in the main square of the Trade Center branch. Hyundai Department Store has also created H Villages at its Apgujeong and Pangyo branches. The 300 trees displayed at the three stores will be planted again at premium outlets after the exhibition is over.
CHANEL HOLIDAY COSMOS-SPHERE, ION ORCHARD, SINGAPORE
Located at the outdoor plaza at ION Orchard, the installation is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the iconic Chanel No 5 perfume. The 18-metre high installation sets a record as the loftiest CHANEL installation in the world. Visitors are invited to step into an immersive, multi-sensorial space where a sparkling, inter-galactic lightshow dazzles the eyes while the olfactory senses are delighted with the scent of CHANEL N°5 L’EAU. The CHANEL Holiday Cosmos-sphere also features a daily light animation on the hour from 8pm to 10pm where the installation will be lit up in a flurry of glittering, festive lights.
CARTIER CHRISTMAS TREE, K11 PROMENADE, HONG KONG
Cartier unveiled a 13-metre high Christmas tree at K11 Musea Promenade with an amazing show. To keep the magic going, daily light displays will embellish the tree and the gift boxes beneath it, while musical interludes will showcase up-and-coming local singers, a capella groups and bands. These public performances at 3pm on weekends also provide photo opportunities with Cartier’s bellboys.
DIOR X GALLERIA, SOUTH KOREA
Galleria teamed up with French luxury brand Dior for a stellar Christmas installation. An 8 meter star engraved with the Dior logo is decorated with leaves and deer sculptures while the facade is glowing with other Dior decorations.
LEGO CHRISTMASLAND, TAIWAN
In partnership with New Taipei City, LEGO is taking over different areas of the municipality. Notable features include LEGO installations depicting Santa, reindeer, elves, gingerbread houses, and Christmas trees. This Christmasland will also feature a giant 14-meter Santa, the largest of its kind in Taiwan. There will also be three major light display zones: the “LEGO Christmas land” at New Taipei City Plaza, the “LEGO Happy Gingerbread Village” at the Banqiao Station Plaza, and the “LEGO Christmas Fantasy Town” in Wanping Park.
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TAIKOO LI QIANTAN, SHANGHAI
Taikoo Li Qiantan joined hands with Dior to launch a 41-day “Let’s love well. Love with Stars” display on the East of Taikoo Li Central Park in Qiantan. The park has been transformed into a “Star Wish” lawn. There is an ocean of stars with one big “Lucky Star” created by DIOR.