Deity Hau Wong's Birthday

Believe it or not Hong Kong is a nation of immigrants. Since 1949 there have been over 5 million of them, primarily from the mainland. Prior to that Hong Kong had many small villages with their local customs. Due to the cultural revolution in China many of these local festivals vanished. However, in Hong Kong some remain. I had the opportunity to visit one such festival. It is for Hau Wong's Birthday. It is celebrated in only a few spots in Hong Kong, one of which is in Tung Chung. It was a wonderful day, full of sights, sounds and smells. 

 Golden Pigs are brought to offer the god. I don't know why they are called golden since they are red, but who am I to judge. 

 A local woman enjoying the festival. 

At times the air was so thick with the smoke form incense it looked like something was on fire somewhere.

Lots of flags everywhere. 

There were many dragon dances. 

And lots of music. The whole day was so loud my ears were ringing for hours. 

More pigs. 

This dragon was very long and it would twist and wrap around itself. 

A major component of the festival is the Chinese opera. I was able to go back stage to see the performers getting ready. 

The day was loud and hot. I admit to being very tired by the time I got home, but I feel very fortunate to have experienced this day. There are so few of these local festivals left and it would be a shame to loose them. As for this years festival, I think Hau Wong will be pleased. 

Mid Autumn Festival

The Mid Autumn or Mooncake Festival is a celebration of the lunar harvest in Chinese culture. It is celebrated through out the world but for the first time in my life I got to experience it here in Hong Kong. What a fun night it was! A friend and I had a yummy dinner in Central before heading off to Victoria Park to check it out. 

Our first sight was this large fish made of hundreds of red lanterns. 

This is another view of the fish and it changes colours! 

There are lanterns, strings of lights and lighted displays everywhere. 

We missed the first Fire dragon dance so decided to get out of the park for a bit to cool off and get away from the crowds. We went into a hotel down the street and had a glass of wine as well as some water. 

During the festival people walk around with brightly lit lanterns and glow sticks. Even the dogs get into the spirit! 

We went back to the park for the Fire Dragon dance. Unfortunately we did not know where it was and before we knew it, it was being performed quite far from us. With so many people this was the closest we could get! 

The other part of the Festival is Mooncakes! Traditionally they are made of Lotus Seed paste and salted egg yolk. While I like the yolk ones, they are not my favourite. This box has olive seeds instead! 

Yumm!