Spring Festival in Hong Kong

[梁復基]

The Chinese Lunar New Year, which is more commonly called The Spring Festival in Mainland China, is the biggest festival in Hong Kong. Most people can enjoy a 4-day holiday. School students usually have a 2-week holiday. What pleases them most is, unlike other holidays which are usually taken before the exam, the Chinese New Year holiday always come after the term exam. So they can forget school work and play like hell.

In recent years, quite a number of university students and even middle school students have grouped together to set up stalls in the bazaar, The New Year Flower Market, which operates for only one week before the first day of the New Year. Most of the students mainly aim at learning how to run a business. Profit making is secondary. While many dig into their own pockets to invest in the ‘enterprise’, most middle school students are supported by their schools and teachers financially and technically so that they can put their economic lessons into practice.

First, they would bid for a stall in an auction held by the government well before the New Year. The amounts of money offered (the bids) for a stall may range from several thousand to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on which bazaar and which location of the bazaar the stall is in. This year, there were 15 bazaars situated in different parts of Hong Kong. Usually, the most popular and expensive one is in Victoria Park, which is by the sea side and close to the town center. A stall in the park fetched HK$540,000 (about RMB420,000) in the auction in Nov 2013.

After successfully bidding for a stall, the students will either look for goods from suppliers or hand-make some items themselves for sale. They may also do some market research and think up some ideas for goods design and marketing strategies.

The bazaar is divided into two parts, the wet market for flowers and the dry market for sundry goods. Almost all the student stalls sell sundry goods. You can find a vast variety including toys, dolls, puppets, pillows, electric gadgets, card/chest games, you name it. The goods may be related to some current affairs or the animal sign of the upcoming year according to The Chinese Zodiac. This year, the theme of many items on sale is, of course, the horse. Here is a link to some photos on the markets: http://www.isidorsfugue.com/2014/02/lun ... -kong.html .

Normally, the bazaars open for business one week before the New Year Eve and close in the early hours on the first day of the New Year. Business was brisk this year. Many students made money. Some stall owners closed their stalls early as their goods were sold out well before mid-night.

I am not sure whether students do the same in your district, but one thing definitely different is Hong Kong people are prohibited from setting off fire crackers or fireworks. The ban was first imposed about 45 years ago when there was social disturbance, which was a spill out from the Cultural Revolution. Other than this, people in Hong Kong celebrate the Chinese New Year in the traditional way, preparing a sumptuous banquet for the family on New Year Eve, visiting relatives, giving out red pockets, etc.

Yes, I should not forget the public events organized by the government and sponsored by some private enterprises in Spring Festival. In the evening of the first day, there was an international parade in the major streets with more than 30 floats and performing troupes from countries around the world. The audience were treated to foreign folk dancers, floats, acrobats, aw well as dragon and lion dances. See photos on the Hong Kong parade as well as New Year parades in the China Towns around the world in:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Chi ... &FORM=IGRE

The 2014 Chinese New Year Fireworks 香港馬年維港賀歳煙花 was set off at 8 p.m. on the second day in the Victoria Harbor. It was reported that more than 300,000 people watched the 163,388 shots of fireworks in the display. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvCvzBSEsc

An invitational international football tournament, the Lunar New Year Cup 2014 was held in the first four days of the New Year. The competing teams were from Japan, Russia and Portugal. Hong Kong was represented by a joint team that included local players and Ecuadoran players from South America, which, to the delight of the Hong Kong people, turned out to be the champion.

Many tourists interviewed by the news media were thrilled by the festivities. Little wonder Hong Kong's Chinese New Year celebration was recently listed by Forbes as one of the world's 10 best festival extravaganzas. Come and experience all these in person some day. You will like it.

[寂静的风]

Dear Uncle Leung,
I have read your long essay written in English and the news you shared with us, the photographs on the websites depict the happy scenes of Spring Festival in HongKong .I would like to tell you that I enjoy every word and every picture of it as if I have spent my holiday with you all. With full aspiration in my heart , I'd like to experience such an enjoyable Lunar New Year personally one day.
Well, I'm willing to tell you how I spent my new year. First of all, I want to tell you what I ate during the Spring Festival. As the most important traditional festival, the Spring Festival was celebrated with lavishly consuming food, including meat and fish, as well as some vegetables and fungus. Elders are usually particular about food, and fish is homonymous with Chinese character Yu, meaning we will be prosperous and earn more money in the new year. Did you have fish for big meal? And there are some specialities of the festival ,zongzi, niangao and pastry filled with nuts, sesame and bean paste. They taste really good. I bet you will like them.
On New Year’s Eve, I waited for the very moment till midnight with my parents, and then we set off firecrackers and cheered for the new year. If I were younger, I would go and ask for red envelopes from house to house in our village, together with my brothers and sisters, on the first early morning of the New Year. Finished such visiting, we get home and feast our stomach with big family meal. Of course, the days when I was a child has gone!
Secondly, I’ll share my seeing and doing with you. As for the recreational activities, there was a dragon dancing from door to door in the street. People went shopping and children could finally have snacks they eagered for long. I just wandered around the bazaar with my friends on the first day and I bought nothing except an ice cream, you know, the weather was very hot that day. And then I went home to watch TV with my mother, watching her favorite series 《铁齿铜牙纪晓岚》 ,which made us both burst out laughing from time to time.
It’s also a pity that we didn’t sit around the stove as the very hot weather, up to 27 ℃ almost. We usually shoot the breeze around the stove, about all kinds of topics. And we can bake the sweet potatoes or some pastries. However, this time we didn’t have the chance to do that.
In short, I did have a happy holidays, only lack of innocence and simplicity belonging to a child. And I was suddenly aware that I was not a child any more, I had to do something. So, after fiercely struggling in my mind last term, I have made up my mind that I would make every effort to pass the IELTS and go to Hongkong for further education. But I have difficulty in oral English and writing ,related to my inadequate vocabularies and practice maybe. What’s more, which major programme should I choose is hard for me to decide. Would you give me a hand and tell me how to make a right decision? I really need your help and advice.
Here I wish you and my dear Uncle Sam as well as everyone of uncles and your family health, good career and have a more fruitful year in the new year.
Sincerely,
Angel(Meiling)

[寂静的风]

I would appreciate it if you give me a hand.Thank you!