Life in Hong Kong: Mid Autumn Festival

Last night was the Mid Autumn Festival. This festival is one of the most important festivals in the Chinese culture. It is tied to the moon. It is a time for families to gather together and celebrate. Here is a link that goes into more detail about the festival itself and its history: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/mid-autumn.htm

In Hong Kong the festival takes place in two main venues: Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and the neighborhood of Tai Hang which lies directly behind Causeway Bay.

Victoria Park is the location for the lantern display. It is lit up with lanterns and lights of many shapes and sizes. Here are a few pictures:

I have many more, but this gives you an idea.

Along one side of the park were booths selling food. We didn't try any on this outing. I'll be honest, I still haven't gotten used to the look and presentation of some of the food that is sold at street booths. The kids weren't interested in trying one of the moon cakes. One of our gate guards, Edwin, had actually brought me a moon cake earlier in the day, so I had already tried one. Edwin was the one who told me I should be sure to go to the Mid Autumn Festival and he had been asking me for about a week if I had tried a moon cake yet. The moon cake is a big part of the Mid Autumn Festival. They can come in different flavors, but they all have an egg yolk in the middle. The cake on the one I tried was very good. Then you get to the egg yolk which is very salty. I could've done without the egg yolk. Another food we saw at the festival that looked interesting was cotton candy, at least that's what we're assuming it was! It was white and not nearly as full as what we're used to in the States.

At the other end of the park and on the other side were some craft booths. There was a porcelain one and the really neat one was the wheat weaving. Dave and I have said that in our time here we will pick out a piece of art, just like we did when we lived in Hawaii. I've looked at many different things, but last night I decided that when we do, I'd like it to be something with the wheat weaving. It is amazing what they do!

There were stages set-up throughout the park for different performances. We didn't stay to see any of the dancers this time, the kids just wanted to see the fire dragon. We did see a little bit of an orchestra performance. Here is a short video:

So the Mid Autumn Festival is all about the moon. All night long we saw parents pointing the moon out to their children. People stopping to take pictures of the moon from different locations, with clouds in front of it, etc.

After walking through Victoria Park we went in search of the Fire Dragon. The Fire Dragon begins in the neighborhood of Tai Hang and then marches down into Victoria Park. He begins his journey at 7:30pm and arrives in the park at 10:30. Here is a little bit about Tai Hang and it's significance:

For the three nights straddling the Mid-Autumn festival,^[3] visitors can also see the spectacular Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance. It's a 67-metre-long 'fire dragon' that winds its way with much fanfare and smoke through a collection of streets located in Tai Hang, close to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance started in 1880 when Tai Hang was a small Hakka village of farmers and fishermen on the waterfront of Causeway Bay. This custom has been followed every year since 1880, with the exception of the Japanese Occupation and during the 1967 disturbances.^[4]

According to local legend, over a century ago, a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, a typhoon and then a plague wreaked havoc on the village. While the villagers were repairing the damage, a python entered the village and ate their livestock. According to some villagers, the python was the son of the Dragon King. A soothsayer decreed the only way to stop the chaos was to stage a fire dance for three days and nights during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. The villagers made a huge dragon of straw and covered it with incense sticks, which they then lit. Accompanied by drummers and erupting firecrackers, they danced for three days and three nights – and the plague disappeared.

We weren't expecting huge crowds in Tai Hang. I'm not sure why we weren't, because they were there! The streets were packed! PJ and Meg were ready to give up, saying we're never going to see anything! But we pushed on. At one point we were walking up a side street and saw a group of men lighting the tips of bamboo sticks and running them over to another group holding something long. We wondered if that was the dragon, but we weren't sure. Edwin (the gate guard) had told me something about burning sticks on the dragon, but I didn't know exactly what he meant.

We continued to walk around. We saw people with Hibachi type grills making food for friends and family.

We could tell the music was starting to pick-up and the dragon must be getting close, so we joined the masses and tried to catch a glimpse. This is what it looked like:

Not the best view, but we saw what we had come to see. Meg took most of these pictures while she was on PJ's back. We started to leave. We headed up the street and then turned on a side street with very few people. Just as we were decided which way to head, the music picked up. We got lucky! The Fire Dragon came right in front of us! The first picture is the dragon's head.