Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CALENDAR OF FESTIVALS
Precise dates cannot be given as Chinese festivals are fixed according to the
lunar calendar.
January/February:
Lunar New Year
. A three-day holiday when Chinese famil-
ies get together. Flower markets are particularly colourful and temples are
packed with worshippers. People hand out
lai see
(lucky money packets) to
children. There's a huge parade on the first day of the new year, and an elabor-
ate fireworks display over the harbour on the second.
April:
Ching Ming Festival
. This Confucian festival, timed to the solar calendar,
is one of two annual holidays to honour the dead. Ancestors' graves are swept
and offerings of food, wine or flowers are made.
April/May:
Tin Hau Festival
. The Taoist Goddess of the Sea is honoured by
fishing communities, especially at Joss House Bay, where decorated junks and
sampans converge with offerings. Smaller celebrations, including lion-dancing,
take place elsewhere.
May:
Birthday of the Lord Buddha
. In Buddhist temples the Buddha's image is
bathed in scented water to symbolise the washing away of sins. Ngong Ping
and Po Lin have special events.
Cheung Chau Bun
Festival is celebrated by
the erection of bamboo towers piled with some 5,000 pink and white lotus-
paste buns. It lasts for five or nine days and includes processions, lion and
dragon dances and traditional temple rites.
May/June:
Dragon Boat Festival (Tuen Ng)
. Oarsmen in long, thin dragon
boats race to the beat of big bass drums and Chinese gongs. Annual Interna-
tional Dragon Boat races are held a few days after the festival.
