HONG KONG – A sense of pride was evident everywhere as hundreds of Hong Kong residents visited Shandong, the nation's first domestically built aircraft carrier, along with its escort ships on Saturday.

They are the ones fortunate enough to secure tickets for the much-awaited visit of the carrier, a 20 stories tall vessel with a flight deck spanning the length of two soccer fields.

The carrier and the escort ships — the Yan'an (Type 055 destroyer), Zhanjiang (Type 052D destroyer), and Yuncheng (Type 054A frigate) — are currently docked in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for a five-day visit that began on Thursday.

The event is part of the celebrations marking the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.