Chinese New Year began on February 17th this year; it is also called the Spring Festival, as the coldest part of winter has passed and warmer weather lies ahead, which we can attest to; it was in the 60s-70s while we stayed in Hong Kong. It is not the same day every year, the same as Christian Easter.
We did a lot of research before planning our trip to Hong Kong, and next up, China; and most blogs and travelers said don’t visit China or Hong Kong during this time as it can be very busy and many Chinese shops and restaurants are closed for the first three days to a week, both of which we can confirm. But it is also a unique time to visit, as a festive atmosphere permeates, there are special markets set up around the city, red lanterns hang from trees and buildings all over:
Shops sell unique foods and other items that are only available at this time of year. The colors red and gold are everywhere:
Huge Pomelo fruits wrapped in plastic, and peanut puffs (yau gok) that we were lucky enough to be introduced to on one of our tours:
Tangerine trees can be found at entrances to buildings and businesses, Chinese money trees of all sizes can be found all over as well (like our hotel), some are huge and others tiny, and people are always taking pictures with them (and we did too!).
This is the year of the Horse, so we found horses plastered everywhere, on the sides of buildings, on window displays, and everywhere in between.
Doors are often decorated and shrines are set-up with the smell of burning incense providing good scents (and to cover stinky ones).
Our tour guide told us to visit Victoria Park and the New Year’s Market, so we did, and it was quite a scene. The whole park was filled with people, 1/3 devoted to eating the variety of foods and drinks, so we had to partake in those of course.
I was gobsmacked by the orchid sellers. Just see the pictures, it was so beautiful to see the many, many colors of orchids and the size of them.
They weren’t the only colorful flowers available, either.
Our hotel even gave us a little gift and card, and put on a show complete with booming drums that we could hear 25 floors up as if they were in the room.
Hong Kong puts on a huge fireworks show the night of, but we had other plans, that Jessica details in her post here. More from our Hong Kong trip to come!
Phil's WayPastCool 