THE 3 IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL (TUEN NG) 端午節 Dragon Boat Festival occurs on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month so it usually ends up being in May or June. For 2017, Dragon Boat Festival is going to be May 30, 2017. Phonetically, it’s written as Tuen Ng Festival for Cantonese speakers and Duan Wu Festival for Mandarin speakers. So how did Dragon Boating begin?
WHAT IS MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL? Also known as Lunar Festival, it is a huge festival and one of the most important festivals in Chinese culture (other cultures celebrate Mid Autumn as well, such as the Vietnamese). I’ve made an 8 part Mid Autumn Festival Series so you can learn a little bit more each day about the festival to countdown so you’ll be totally ready the day of! So what does it celebrate, when does it happen, what are some of the traditions to this festival, what are the legends to the festival and many more questions answered! Read on.
BORROWING MONEY FROM KWUN YAM’S VAULT (觀音借庫) Religion is somewhat a confusing topic in Hong Kong and an absolutely huge topic to cover. The most popular religions in Hong Kong are Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. With over 600 temples in Hong Kong, there are many temples to explore & discover. Often, during one of our food tours, or on our Free Central Walk, someone will ask about religion and which temple corresponds to which religion. Now, that’s the tough question. There is also something called Chinese Folk religion. Chinese Folk religion can also be said to be the larger umbrella category for both Confucianism and Taoism, but yet, it can be said to be different doctrines as well. Often times, the temples in Hong Kong worship a special god, or deity that’s of a local deity & that’s Chinese Folk religion. For example, Tin Hau Temple is a Chinese Folk religion temple and it worships the goddess of the sea. It’s almost never truly clear cut if it’s a Taoist temple, a Buddhist temple or a Chinese Folk Religion temple, but rather often times, it’s a bit of everything. For example, is Kwun Yam, the Goddess of Mercy, Taoist or Buddhist? Rather, Kwun Yam is a deity that is revered in both Taoist and Buddhist religions. My friend, Jesse, over at Expat Getaways compiled a list of temples in Hong Kong and we contributed by writing about the most famous Kwun Yam temple in Hong Kong. I would recommend you to check out that post first, before proceeding to the below as it will make a lot more sense that way.
THE CHEUNG CHAU BUN COMPETITION AND FESTIVAL! The most famous festival in Cheung Chau is the Bun Festival. The festival is held annually and has been inaugurated since the 18th century – crazy right? The most spectactular and worthwhile thing to do is watch the Bun Scrambling Competition. There is a tower made from buns (the Chinese white kind) and participants race up the tower trying to collect the most buns in order to be declared the victorious winner. It’s really kinda cool & something you need to witness in person once in a lifetime if you’re living in Hong Kong. Here are the details so you can make it happen! WHAT IS THE CHEUNG CHAU BUN (包山節) FESTIVAL? It all dates back to the late Qing dynasty. There was a plague that swept through Cheung Chau (an outlying island in Hong Kong) and the villagers decided to build an altar in front of the Pak Tai Temple (Pak Tai is the Taoist God of the Sea) and the villagers would also parade statues of other deities around Cheung Chau to drive off the evil spirits associated with the plague. It worked; the plague ended and thereafter, these rituals are now performed in a festival that has been inaugurated since the 18th century and that festival is now known as the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, which Time.com has deemed it as one of the top 10 quirkiest local festivals in the world and is included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritages. The festival will include a parade called the Piu Sik parade, lion dances, ceremonies and the most famous Bun Scrambling Competition (搶包山). If you’re looking to soak in some culture and experience the liveliness of the festival, I would recommend checking the Piu Sik parade out which also occurs on Buddha’s birthday, public holiday in Hong Kong, in the afternoon and then checking out the Bun Scrambling Competition at night. The #1 thing I would recommend to do if you’re tolerant of waiting and queueing is witnessing the Bun Scrambling Competition, which was pretty awesome! in 2016, it was said that more than 26, 000 people visited Cheung Chau during the day of the parade and Bun Scrambling Competition. The buns that you will see everywhere on the Cheung Chau island available for purchase during the festival are called Peace Buns (平安包) and they are all white, except…
CHINESE NEW YEAR TIMELINE Chinese New Year is approaching and of course, you’re probably wondering what it means and if there are some taboos things you shouldn’t do and what are the things you should do… It can get pretty daunting and is THE #1 MOST IMPORTANT HOLIDAY for the Chinese. Think of it like Christmas for the Chinese people. Also, this will also be the time of year where they will get the longest amount of holidays so prepare and stock up ahead of time in terms of food and supplies as the first 3 days of Chinese New Year are holidays in Hong Kong! We’ve made a timeline for easy reference.
WHY YOU NEED TO BUY A NIPPLES [FRUIT TREE] AND PUSSYS [WILLOW]! Chinese New Year is a very family oriented holiday, but there are fun activities that everybody should do, regardless if they celebrate Chinese New Year or not. Visiting a Chinese New Year Flower Market is on the top of my list if you’re interested to see and feel some of that atmosphere!
4 MOST POPULAR GIFTS TO GIVE FOR BAI NIAN (拜年) Bai Nian, 拜年, is when you visit your friends’ and family’s houses to exchange Chinese New Year Greetings to each other (If you want to learn the most basic ones, please see post here). Once the Chinese New Year Greetings are exchanged, lucky money then also gets exchanged (Depending on your status, you either give one or receive one… See our infographic to see if you give or receive, here). Now, this bai nian extravaganza starts on “chu 1” (初一), the day after Chinese New Years’ Eve as based from the lunar calendar. And the Chinese are very polite; therefore, us guests don’t show up to a person’s home empty handed… So what’s an appropriate gift?
