oC % Annual Festivals
Chinese New Year - February 14, 2010 (First Moon, Day 1) |
| The most important of all lunar calendar festivals, Chinese New Year was traditionally a time to celebrate the harvest and wish for prosperity in the coming year. Over the centuries it has become a celebration of the new Lunar Year and Chinese rituals, traditions and culture. People spend most of the holiday on family visits, festive feasts and gift giving, as well as avoiding any potential bad luck. In Hong Kong, the city lights up with three jam-packed days exciting activities ranging from a sensational New Year Night Parade and a spectacular harbour fireworks show to chock-full markets and the Chinese New Year Cup jockey race. Visitors may easily join in the region-wide celebrations. Kung Hei Fat Choy! |
Ching Ming Festival - April 5, 2010 (Third Moon) |
| During the Ching Ming (or Qingming) Festival, the time-honoured tradition of grave sweeping and food offering takes place throughout Hong Kong cemeteries. Translated into "clear and bright", the holiday is also known as Spring Remembrance Day, Ancestors’ Remembrance Day, and Grave Sweeping Day. Falling under the Third Moon of the lunar calendar, Ching Ming is when family members young and old visit the graves of their ancestors to appease their departed relatives. As well as visiting cemeteries, the holiday is also a dual-purpose celebration. On Ching Ming, which falls on the fifteenth day after the Spring Equinox, people welcome the spring weather by picnicking and taking family outings. |
Birthday of Tin Hau - May 6, 2010 (Third Moon, Day 23) |
 The Birthday of Tin Hau recalls Hong Kong's historical dependence on the sea. According to legend, Tin Hau was the daughter of a fisherman who could predict coming storms. These days, boats are decorated in colourful banners and prayers are made to the goddess to grant good luck for fishing. Locals head to the various Tin Hau temples to offer the goddess paper flowers called fa pau. (The temple near Tin Hau MTR is the easiest to reach.) Celebrations also take place in the New Territories at Joss House Bay in Sai Kung and in Yuen Long, where the goddess is honoured with lion dances and street performances. |
Cheung Chau Bun Festival - May 21, 2010 (Fourth Moon, Day 8) |
 According to legend, many years ago locals on Cheung Chau discovered the remains of fellow residents who had been killed by pirates. As a result, the island became plagued. Since then, Cheung Chau residents take part in four days of Taoist activities to protect their land and people from misfortune. The rituals culminate in the final day of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, which is one of the most happening cultural events in Hong Kong. On this day 'floating' children dressed as characters from Chinese folklore stun audiences, and bun towers are completely covered with sweet Chinese buns inscribed with red marks. In the past, participants raced up the towers to retrieve the highest buns possible for good luck. However, after a fatal accident in 1978, the 'bun snatching' antic is now played out by trained athletes. |
Birthday of Lord Buddha - May 21, 2010 (Fourth Moon, Day 8) |
 To mark the birth of Gautama Buddha, the historical founder of Buddhism, followers flock to temples and monasteries throughout Hong Kong. Buddhists revere their deity by bathing statues of Buddha and partaking in other rituals. This is a spiritual and sombre affair, in which participants show respect for the purified and awakened Buddha. The most popular site is the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, which is home to the world’s largest seated outdoor bronze statue of Buddha. |
Dragon Boat Festival - June 16, 2010 (Fifth Moon, Day 5) |
| The energetic Dragon Boat Festival, or Tuen Ng in Cantonese, is an electrifying affair. Just as many events in Hong Kong, dragon boat racing has a long history, dotted with superstitions, traditions, and even a hero. The origins of dragon boat racing go back over 2,000 years, during a time when poet Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Mi Lo River to protest the fall of the Chinese state he loved so dearly to corrupt rulers. Villagers attempted to rescue him by beating drums and splashing the water with paddles to scare away fish from his body and to ward off evil spirits. The actions of the townspeople after the death of Qu Yuan were repeated year after year to commemorate the poet's sacrifice, becoming the annual Dragon Boat Festival, in which competitors race boats adorned as river dragons as the crowd cheers them on. On the day of the festival local teams compete in Aberdeen, Deepwater Bay, Stanley, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Cheung Chau, Lamma Island and Lantau Island. |
Hungry Ghost Festival - August 24, 2010 (Seventh Moon, Day 15) |
| During the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar, ghosts, including deceased ancestors, are said to roam the earth. To appease the famished spirits, believers burn paper money and joss sticks and prepare ritualistic offerings of food to nourish the ghosts, as well as bring them good fortune in their own world. On the fifteenth day of the month, the solemn celebrations climax with the Yue Laan, or Hungry Ghost, Festival. Offerings and entertainment are held at night in order to please the wandering ghosts. Local festivals in Hong Kong feature Chinese opera. Check out King George V Memorial Park in Kowloon and Moreton Terrace Playground in Causeway Bay. |
Mid-Autumn Festival - Sept 22, 2010 (Eighth Moon, Day 15) |
| Aside from Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is Hong Kong's biggest festival. The date for the festival is set by the Autumn Equinox, when the moon is brightest and traditionally it was the time to celebrate the summer's harvest. What really turned the festival into the crowd-pleaser it is today was a man named Liu Bowen. In a plot straight out of Hollywood, Liu was part of a 14th century rebel movement aimed at kicking China's Mongol overlords back over the border. He came up with an ingenious plan to organize the uprising by concealing the message Rise against the Tartars on the 15th day of the Eight Moon inside moon cakes, the key to this master plan was that Mongols didn't eat moon cakes so they would never know. The rebellion was a success and moon-cakes and the festival have been a firm fixture on the lunar calendar ever since. |
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