Holidays & Traditions
Chinese Holidays
Chinese New Year
During the Chinese New Year, Hong Kong's brightly illuminated skyline
must be one of its main attractions, not to forget the famous fireworks
that take place over the harbor on the second evening of the Chinese New
Year.
This is one of the most important festivals in the Chinese calender,
it's a time for people to visit their friends and relatives. Shops are
nicely decorated, with red and gold being the official colors of the Chinese
New Year.
Peach blossoms, which symbolize good fortune for the person owning them,
can be bought everywhere, as can be little trees growing mandarin-like
fruits, which symbolize gold or money to the believers in it. One afternoon
of the Chinese New Year, there is a spectacular parade on the
streets in HK. Celebrations usually continue for 3 days, while some
shop owners decide to close down their shops for the whole week.
Ching Ming Festival and Chung
Yeung Festival
The Ching Ming Festical is in the springtime and the Chung Yeung Festival
takes place on the ninth day of the ninth moon. They are occasions for
visiting ancestral graves. At Chung Yeung, many people climb hills in
remembrance of an ancient Chinese family that fled to a mountain top
to escape plague and death.
Dragonboat festival
This is a festival which also combines into a big sporting event that
takes place every year in either May or June in Hong Kong. Qu Yuan
was a national hero who drowned himself 2,300 years ago in protest against
a corrupt government. Legend says that as townspeople attempted to
rescue him, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into
the sea to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. To symbloze the attempted
rescue of Qu Yuan, they race narrow long boats made of wood (the front
of the boats are carved into a dragon's head, therefore the name) to the
beating of a drum.
Mid-Autumn Festival
This takes place on the 15th day of the eighth moon. All people, family
and friends, come together under the full moon, usually at beaches, carrying
bright and beautiful lanterns. They exchange presents, mooncakes, fruit
and wine.
Photos: HTKA (Hong Kong Tourist Association)
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Symbols
and traditions
Contents:
Chinese New Year
Ching Ming festival and Chung Yeung Festival
Dragonboat festival
Mid-Autumn festival
New Year's Dragon
Two Dragonboats
competing as a part of the Dragonboast festival.
Related topics:
Overview of Chinese holidays
American Holidays
German Holidays
Norwegian holidays and Flag-Flying days
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