Seoul: Cities around Asia were turning out the lights Saturday evening to mark the 10th annual Earth Hour, a global movement dedicated to protecting the planet and highlighting the effects of climate change.
In Seoul, the glass-covered City Hall was among several public buildings where officials switched off the lights inside and out. Lights illuminating landmarks such as the massive COEX shopping mall, the city's main railway station and several bridges on the Han River were all either turned off or dimmed.
Read: Sydney among first cities to switch off lights for Earth Hour
In Beijing, Chinese actress Li Bingbing showed up at the iconic Temple of Confucius, which was shut dark for an hour while municipal government officials announced that the city's energy conservation slogan would be "Consume less, consume wisely."
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was among the buildings to go dark in Taiwan's capital.
Philippine officials in metropolitan Manila led hundreds of environmental activists, students and movie and TV celebrities in switching off lights at the Quezon Memorial Circle in suburban Quezon city. Amid the darkness, some participants pedaled bamboo bikes attached to small energy generators to power LED lights and illuminate a giant Philippine map to symbolize the country's yearning to shift to renewable energy sources, organizers said.
Beautiful At-Taqwa mosque in Balikpapan, #Indonesia, powers down for #EarthHour 2016! #IniAksiku pic.twitter.com/03Nk0oLzsU
— Earth Hour (@earthhour) March 19, 2016
Other cities across Asia were also turning off the lights for the hourlong event, held at 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time. Cities from other regions around the world will follow later Saturday.
The first Earth Hour event was held on March 31, 2007, when the WWF conservation group inspired people in Sydney to turn out the lights for an hour. Since then, the WWF-organized event has expanded to thousands of cities and towns around the world and has been held every March.
