Even though this year’s Chinese New Year is likely going to be a little different, Hong Kong is set to welcome the festival in its own style by bridging traditional elements with innovative ideas, making the Year of the Ox a blissful and enjoyable year to remember.
Annual Chinese New Year Traditions in Hong Kong
This time of the year, locals make their way to visit the city’s renowned flower market in Prince Edward, Kowloon where locals shop for seasonal flowers and plants that symbolise various good wishes.
Tangerine trees are believed to bring good luck, while orchids symbolize fertility and refinement. Bountiful offerings of other festive blooms and fruits can also be found to bring home good wishes. “If you make your home a very beautiful space, you are happier in general, and that brings in abundance and joy,” says a shopper at the flower market.
Paying respect to the deities is another customary practice among locals. During Chinese New Year, thousands of locals visit one or more famous temples, such as the Che Kung Temple, Wong Tai Sin Temple and Man Mo Temple, to pray for health and prosperity in the coming year. These temples are architecturally beautiful with brightly decorated shrines, all making the spiritual excursions the perfect way to ring in Chinese New Year.
Fai chun, a traditional decoration in doorways and on walls, is also an essential item to create a joyful festive atmosphere and to bring good luck and prosperity.
Hong Kong also has a belief called “Guanyin Loan-granting Day”, where, on the 26th day of the first lunar month every year, Guanyin temples in various districts are packed with fervent worshippers seeking their desired amount of “money” from Guanyin which may bring them fortune and wealth in the coming year. People who borrow money are expected to use these for righteous purposes only.
Although there will be no physical events because of the Covid-19 situation, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is turning the Chinese New Year celebrations up a notch by infusing the cherished traditions with online, innovative elements, sending festive blessings in a whole new fashion.
Fortunes in Hong Kong
From 8 February to 26 February, experience ‘Fortunes in Hong Kong’ a virtual Lunar New Year celebration featuring a creative online market, which offers Chinese New Year delicacies and specialties, as well as games, feng shui, cooking recipes and festive e-cards.
No matter where you are in the world, you can join in the online merriment and share prosperous blessings with your loved ones at www.discoverhongkong.com/CNY
With all the festive activities in town, Hong Kong is ready to welcome the Year of the Ox with joy and blessings. “When there is difficulty, we do our best to overcome it. I am hoping that the coming year will be good,” says a local resident.
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