| Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:18 pm Post subject: Re: Are there still lantern making shops in HK? / Are there still lantern making shops in HK? |
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| Anonymous wrote: | | When I grew up in the 60s and 70s in HK, my Father use to take us to the shop to choose our lanterns. They were wire framed with colour cellophane that became the beautiful shapes of rabbit, racing cars etc. We left 30 years ago and I wonder if it is still the same. |
Sadly there is very little of this left. It has mostly been replaced with plastic inflatable micky mouse and ultra-man "lanterns" with electric lights that have built in annoying music!
The old lanterns do still exist; bamboo sliver or wire frames taped together with paper strips dipped in glue, then with coloured paper and cellophane, all lit with candles. To find them though you'll have to go to traditional residential areas, and may find them in the shops that sell paper-money and other offering for burning at funerals, and you'll have to shop early if you want to find a rabbit!
The government puts on a nice show each year on TST waterfront beside the star ferry, under the old clock tower, of giant versions of those lanterns, of course they are steel pipe and high tech inside, but they do have that traditional look so the thought is remembered if the actual toy lanterns are now hard to find. |
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