Neon ( 霓虹 ) is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to San Francisco. When night falls , red and blue and other colors 26 a hazy (雾蒙蒙的 ) glow over a city lit up by tens of thousands of neon signs. But many of them are going dark, 27 by more practical , but less romantic, LEDs ( 发光二极管 ). Changing building codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintaining those wonderful old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which are energy 28 , but still carry great cost . " To me, neon represents memories of the past," says photographer Sharon Blance , whose series HongKong Neon celebrates the city's famous signs . "Looking at the signs now I get a feeling of amazement , mixed with sadness . “ Building a neon sign is an art practiced by 29 trained on the job to mold glass tubes into 30 shapes and letters. They fill these tubes with gases that glow when 31 . Neon makes orange, while other gases make yellow or blue. It takes many hours to craft a single sign. Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and 32 more than 60 signs; 22 of them appear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets—an 33 that makes it easy to admire their colors and craftsmanship. " I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned 34 of neon," says Blance . The signs do nothing more than 35 a restaurant, theater, or other business , but do so in the most striking way possible.