A visit to Hong Kong will ultimately introduce you to some wonderful traditions and festivities. Despite being a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong is a unique blend of ancient eastern values and modern western technology. Some of the entertaining festivities in Hong Kong are:
Chinese New Year
Unlike New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world, Chinese New Year usually includes a more spiritual theme coupled with amazing firework displays and parades.
You can enjoy the air scented flower markets that are abloom with all sorts of flowers, making the market seem like a veritable sea of colors. The light shows can be best enjoyed on top a high peak or from the waterfront while the night parade are dazzling in their full Chinese splendor.
Every Chinese New Year introduces an animal that will depict the fortunes or misfortunes for the rest of the year, and so expect to see statues of the animal for that particular year.
Symphony of Lights
This has been called the “World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show” because of the 44 buildings that share in the celebration of each multimedia show.
Witnessing this spectacular show is an experience for even the most techie of us all. The sky is ablaze with colored lights, searchlights and laser beams performing a dance to music, beautifully synchronized. The show has 5 themes – Energy, Heritage, Awakening, Partnership, and the Grand Finale.
The best way to see this show is from the harbor. You can take a cruise or go down to the waterfront.
Spring Lantern Festival
This is usually held in the first moon of day 15, or for the bemused – that’s around January or February of every year.
If it were to be compared to any other international celebration, the Spring Lantern Festival would be most like Valentine’s Day. Most spectacular is the numerous colorful lanterns that you can see from almost all corners of Hong Kong.
Dragon Boat Festival
In Chinese calendar, this event is held on day 5 of the fifth moon. To translate, this would be around the month of June. This festival is also known as the Tuen Ng Festival and it honors the Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan. He drowned in the Mi Lo River as a message of disgust over the corrupt ways of the rulers around 2000 years ago.
The legend tells of how the villagers tried to save him by feeding the fish with dumplings so the fish would not eat his body. They also beat their drums repeatedly to scare off any fish away from his body.
As the main highlight of the festival, you will see dragon boats with men on them beating heavily on drums. These dragon boats are usually elaborately decorated in honor of the festivities. The dragon boats race in a competition to the finish line with huge crowds watching.
The main food at this event is, naturally, the dumpling, which is a delicious glutinous rice and meat snack wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed.
There are many other events to see in Hong Kong which is why it is a city that never sleeps, and always something exciting happening.
