Before heading for the former Portuguese enclave, Yang said at a farewell ceremony at Government House that he believed "the future of Hong Kong remains bright" as he had seen and felt the "warm hospitality" of the people in Hong Kong. He handed chief executive Tung Chee-hwa one of his training suits.

"When I return home, I will work harder in order not to fail the aspirations of the people of Hong Kong," said Yang, 38, who will be in Macau for two days before heading back to Beijing.

Yang's visit in Hong Kong is widely seen as a publicity stunt by Beijing to distract the former British colony from its troubles.

His trip was arranged by the Hong Kong government shortly after he landed in northern China's Inner Mongolia region on October 16 after a 21-hour space flight that established China as the third nation to send a man into space after the United States and Russia.

A four-day exhibition, featuring his Shenzhou V spacecraft's return capsule, astronaut spacesuit and left-over space food, was also held to coincide with Yang's visit.

Anti-Beijing sentiment has been running high in Hong Kong with dissatisfaction over economic management, the handling of the recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis and an attempt to introduce new security laws.

SPACE.WIRE