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What is the best time to experience Hong Kong, a vibrant East-meets-West city? Well- informed visitors choose the Spring Festival, the most jubilantly celebrated occasion by all Chinese people worldwide.
Nowhere are the festivities more exciting than in Hong Kong, a place dripping with glamor and deeply-rooted in tradition. "The festive mood here is very high," said Mr Choi, a tourist from South Korea who visited the seafront Friday evening for the Victoria Harbor fireworks show.
A MODERN METROPOLIS
The fireworks display, together with the Hong Kong International Chinese New Year Night Parade, are fine testimonies of the city's glamor as a modern metropolis.
"I choose to visit Hong Kong at this time as it has many modern and fashionable events on show, things that are not so easy to be seen elsewhere," says Ms Wong, a tourist who came from ShenYang. Wong, together with her husband and daughter, were among a crowd of some 150,000 people who watched the parade onsite at Tsim Sha Tsui on Thursday night.
On that first night of Lunar New Year, the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui staged a fascinating carnival. Ballerinas stilt walkers from the Netherlands, the Waves dance group from Spain, Denver Broncos Cheerleaders from the United States and the Okinawa Drum Dance from Japan, a number of exciting performances treated the audience with a fabulous show.
The world-renowned parade, one of the biggest Chinese New Year celebrations around the globe, is celebrating its 20th year. With the theme of "Sweet 20, World Party," the night parade this year featured 34 glittering floats and performing groups from all over the world.
Night parade, fireworks show, the carnival mood will not end just so soon. Hong Kong's tourism board has rolled out a new sensation in the Hong Kong Pulse 3D Light Show, covering the facade of the Hong Kong Cultural Center and the Clock Tower with festive elements. The show is running until March 18.
Modern and fashionable, Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has yet another side: well-kept traditions and a unique blend of different cultures.
DISCOVER THE OLD HONG KONG
For Hong Kongers, Lunar New Year celebrations cannot settle without flowers. People came in crowds at flower markets at Victoria Park and Fa Hui Park before new year, buying flowers that they view as a necessity for their festival ornaments. Peach blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum are among their top choices, said Liang Linggang, a local floriculture designer.
Visiting temples to pray for good fortune and making a wish at the Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees are also traditions that many locals follow. Meanwhile, Lai See, or red envelopes filled with cash or presents, is probably the most be-loved tradition in the eyes of children, employees, and the unmarried.
"Almost all my friends in the Chinese mainland are crazy about grabbing 'red envelops' on their mobile phones these days, but I feel better receiving the real thing here in Hong Kong, the Lai See," said Ms Guo, a young lady who had moved to Hong Kong for just a short time.
What she referred to was a trend in the Chinese mainland that the tradition of giving "red envelops" during spring festival are being somewhat replaced by on-line payment through mobile phone apps.
For people in some southern parts of China, nothing signifies the Lunar New Year more than lion dancing. In Hong Kong, lion dance can be seen at a series of functions throughout the festival period, such as the night parade at Tsim Sha Tsui, and also at the Legend of Lion Dance Exhibition at Times Square, Causeway Bay.
For horse racing lovers, the Chinese New Year Race Day, staged Saturday at Sha Tin racecourse, is another big traditional event that cannot be missed.
Apart from the festival celebrations, many visitors come to Hong Kong also for the city's famous entertainment destinations, notably the Disneyland and the home-grown theme park, Ocean Park. The two parks also followed their own traditions of making special decorations to welcome the Lunar New Year.
Modern glamor? Traditional flavor? Hong Kong has one thing to offer that is irresistible to all -- the food. Renowned as the culinary capital of Asia, Hong Kong boasts more than 10,000 restaurants. Local delicacies include Dim Sum, fresh seafood, Chinese barbecue, and of course the dumplings, especially for this festival occasion. Enditem
