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Hong Kong Holidays/ Festivals 2018
2015 Calendar below for reference
The first day of January 1 Jan
Chinese New Year of the Goat 19 Feb
The second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year

Che Kung's Birthday

20 Feb
The third day of the Lunar New Year 21 Feb
Spring Lantern Festival / Yuen Siu 5 Mar
Chinese Groundhog Day 6 Mar
Ching Ming Festival 5 Apr
The day following Ching Ming Festival 6 Apr
Good Friday 3 Apr
The day following Good Friday 4 Apr
Easter Monday 6 Apr
Labour Day 1 May
Birthday of Tin Hau 11 May
Buddha’s Birthday and Cheung Chau Bun Festival

also Tam Kung's Birthday

25 May
Tuen Ng /  Dragon Boat Festival 20 Jun
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day 1 July
Kwan Tai / Kwan Gon's Birthday 8 Aug
Seventh Goddess' Day / Tsat-je 20 Aug
Chinese Ghosts Festival / Yue Lan 27 Aug
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival / Moon Festival 27 Sep
Day after Mid-Autumn Festival

Monkey King Festival

28 Sep
Confucius' Birthday/Teacher's Day 9 Oct
Chinese National Day 1 Oct
Chung Yeung Festival  
Winter Solstice 22 Dec
Christmas Day 25 Dec
Boxing Day 26 Dec

 

Hong Kong Festivals 2016
Hong Kong Festivals 2017

   

 

 

Home > Festivals > Chinese Valentine's Day

Spring Lantern Festival / Chinese Valentine's Day

On the 15th day of Chinese New Year, it's the Spring Lantern Festival.   As people eat yuan xiao or tang yuan (a kind of glutinous rice ball with or without fillings) on the Lantern Festival, it's also called the Yuan Xiao Festival.

The Festival is probably originated in Han Dynasty when one of the emperors wanted to show respect to the Buddha and so he had ordered to light up the lanterns in the palace on the 15th day of Chinese New Year.  It gradually became a custom for the general public too.

 

Many families may light a red lantern at home and at night there will be lantern watching and lantern riddle quizzes guessing.  Chinese opera or even lion dance may be seen.

Back to the Glutinous rice balls.  It was one of my favorites festival food.  Mum will prepare the dough in the afternoon and we will help to make the balls and fill in with sweet fillings like red bean paste, sesame paste or even peanut butter. (I wonder if it will work with Nutella? <GRIN>) All the balls with then go into the pot with boiling water favoured with ginger and brown sugar.  When the balls float you know it's cooked.  Mum always nags us to eat slowing and with the water because it is very sticky some young children may choke by that.

Celebrations Today

The Hong Kong government typically arranges a few carnival around the town to celebrate this Lantern Festival.  At the carnival, you will expect to see lots of lanterns (of course!).  You will also see Cantonese and Beijing opera which is a must in any traditional Chinese festival celebration.  One special thing about the Lantern Festival is that there will be lots of riddle quizzes tied to the end of the lanterns.  I presume it dates back to the old old days in China when that's how the literate young guys show off their talent in front of other people and especially the ladies they fancy!  (Pure guess!)  It's because in the old days, girls, especially rich people's daughters are not allowed to run around the town.  Lantern Festival is one of the events they can go out and join in the celebration.  And that's when other young guys can get to meet the ladies.  Therefore, the Lantern Festival is sometimes referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day.

There will also be big displays of lanterns in some major parks or open space.  Popular places include the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza and West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade.

Admissions to all these events are free.

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