Karaoke bridge climb for Chinese New Year

A karaoke cilmb of Sydney Harbour Bridge is tailored towards tourists from China to help sing in the lunar new year.

On the karaoke climb
On the karaoke climb

(Transcript from World News Radio)

Each year, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the centrepiece of the city's New Year's Eve celebrations.

But step aside December 31st and make way for Lunar New Year - with a twist.

As Darren Mara reports, the company that runs climbing tours of the bridge has come up with a new way to welcome in the lunar festival.

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Another sunny, and windy day atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

BridgeClimb Sydney has been running walking tours of the bridge's arches since the late 1990s - and it's become one of Sydney's top tourist attractions.

Now the latest take on BridgeClimb combines two things many of us find daunting - if not terrifying - heights and singing in public.

It's been christened the karaoke climb - tailored towards tourists from China to help sing in the lunar new year.

Albert Yin takes Mandarin-speaking groups on the BridgeClimb tour.

"Karaoke is a big thing in China. Obviously we have a lot of visitors come in from China to visit the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the most iconic features we have in Sydney. So, they all want to be part of the atmosphere, party of the Chinese festival. While they do they climb they obviously can also sing a lot of songs."

The karaoke climb comes complete with microphones, a tv screen to read off and even a shiny disco ball.

The climbs will run through Lunar New Year until the end of February.

Our tour guide Albert says bridge climbers will get to choose from five Mandarin-language songs to belt out to the unsuspecting city below.

"All the songs are very traditional. To give some examples, we have one song that for an older crowd, but one the younger generation knows about as well. It's one you'd hear from mum and dad. Another song is called 'Friends', and then we have another one representing the moon and the heart."

The five songs were chosen by users of the Chinese microblogging website Weibo.

The tour operators say the Karaoke climb has been received very well.

Though these climbers say, at times, they didn't know whether to sing ... or scream.

"Definitely, my legs are shaking right now. I would never have imagined singing or doing anything like this on the harbour bridge MARA: And how did you find the songs? I don't know many of them. It's targetted at a different generation, I guess.

"If you're excited you tend to speak out loudly, we can sing loudly here, because it's difficult to hear with all the wind. So, we actually would be pumped up to sing."

They say in space no one can hear you scream... well up here, thankfully, no one can hear you sing.

 

 


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