Fans of Doraemon flocked to Tsim Sha Tsui on Saturday for an exhibition, in its returns to the city after 12 years.

The free-entry zone at the Avenue of Stars features the world's tallest 12-metre inflatable Doraemon sculpture as well as 34 different versions of Doraemon in 1:1 life size.

But some fans chose to buy a ticket to access the indoor exhibition at K11 MUSEA.

A tourist, who came from Shenzhen, said he made a day trip to Hong Kong just for the exhibition.

"I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to it. I've waited for this moment for over two months. I may come again next week for the drone show," he told RTHK.

Another Doraemon fan said his family had moved to the United States, but they are back in town and felt lucky to catch the exhibition.

"We are back in Hong Kong for the summer vacation. Tickets went on sale 2 months ago and we bought them immediately. We spent about HK$2,000 on souvenirs. We bought clothes, a popcorn bucket and a soft toy," he said.

The exhibition runs from Saturday to August 11.

Organisers said tickets for the indoor exhibition are sold out.