STORY OF A SKYSCRAPER Until a couple of new upstarts took its place, Central Plaza in Wan Chai ruled the HK skyline. Here are five things you mightn’t know about it!

It’s Hong Kong’s third-tallest

#1 building, at 373 metres (behind only ICC and Two IFC). When completed in 1992, it was the tallest building in all of Asia. And, for the first five years of its life, it was the tallest concrete building in the world (most skyscrapers at the time were built from steel).

Having said that, the highest floor

#2 is actually less than 300 metres, as the top quarter of Central Plaza consists of a thin 100-metre-tall mast. It’s this mast that gives the building a distinctive shape (and its nickname, “The Big Syringe”!).

Contestants in the American

#3 reality TV show The Amazing Race 2 visited the building in the seventh leg of their competition. (While in HK, they also went to the Big Buddha, rowed a dragon boat and had their fortunes told.)

The 46th floor is home to a Sky

#4 Lobby, which is open to the public (and free!), with stunning views over the harbour and to the Peak. On the 75th floor of the building is Sky City Church – the world’s tallest church within a skyscraper.

Embedded in the top floors of Central Plaza

#5 is a high-tech clock made up of four neon bands that change colour every 15 minutes. At 11pm, for example, all four neon bands glow green. Then one band turns red every quarter of an hour, until all four bands are glowing red at midnight. (You can see the colour scheme of the different times at centralplaza.com.hk/eng/lightime.php.)