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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

   

 

 

2008

20 Apr -- Bun Festival is coming.  Are you ready with the bun tower climbing competition schedule?

17 Apr -- By coincidence two big hotel companies have opened new hotels in HK at around the same time.  Novotel Nathan Road, which is actually in Jordan, and Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong, which is in Sai Ying Pun.  Both of these are near-but-not-quite-in popular areas so I guess they are for business travelers on a budget.

12 Apr -- Tin Hau's birthday falls on 28th this month. Though in place like Cheung Chau island, they have a dragon boat regatta on 20th Apr to celebrate her birthday.  A warm up for the Dragon boat festival in June?

5 Mar -- Why does Chinese Groundhog day involved old ladies squatting on the street and beating up a yellow paper tiger? read on.

1 Jan -- Happy New Year!  Though the Chinese New year will fall on 7 Feb this year and it's going to be the Year of Mouse.


2007

20 May -- Preparations for the 2007 Cheung Chau Bun Festival are underway.  Here is a picture gallery of the festival.


2006

3 Jan: The new year is here -- well at least the western New Year but the shops in Hong Kong are setting up for the real event, The Chinese Luna New Year which this year is a bit early being at the end of January. Decorations are up and supermarkets are selling all the traditional foods and sweets!   This will be the Year of the Dog -- Woof!


2005

22 Dec: Just went past the construction site for the new Star Ferry pier and took a few pictures which are added to the page now.

10 Dec: The big WTO meeting starts in Hong Kong next week.  It's not of a lot of interest to most people here really, apart from the traffic chaos it will create!  If you are not coming because of the meting then now is a bad time to visit!  For most of the week and weekend everywhere around the Convention and Exhibition Centre will be off limits.

1 Dec: Just realized I stopped my commentary on Hong Kong Weather by month before I got to winter...  So I've quickly updated my page for Hong Kong Weather in December

20 Nov: Just took a friend to the Po Lin Monastery in Lantau to see the "Big Buddha" and got some pictures.

8 Sep: The new Hong Kong Four Seasons Hotel opens today, it's a very attractive block right next to IFC, above the airport express terminal in Central.  Not been inside it yet but I did call up and found that only their Chinese restaurant is due to be open today.  Bookings for rooms starting from tonight are being taken though.

4 Aug: Everything gets earlier all the time.  It isn't even Chinese Valentine's Day yet and already the cake shops and restaurants are selling Moon Cakes for Mid Autumn Festival.  Meanwhile the MTR line to the new Disneyworld Hong Kong has opened -- but if you take the train it won't help because the park doesn't open till September.

4 June: Everybody get ready to eat rice dumplings because the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival 2005 is on June 11th.  In the Chinese tradition this marks the start of guaranteed hot weather -- people say; don't put your warm clothes away until you have eaten dragon boat rice dumplings.

24 May: AsiaWorld Expo (HK's largest exhibition centre) will be opened in December.  Read more about AsiaWorld Expo here.

7 May: Here is the official announcement about the resumption of the bun tower climbing during Cheung Chau Bun Festival.  NO mention of the controversy though.  Objectionable to the local people is the fact that their festival is being "taken over" by the government who are introducing things like mountaineer training for the climbers, time trials, and "bouncy castles".  It becomes more of a fun-fair than a traditional festival.

Also it seems that the climbers are going to be "outsiders" (not people from Cheung Chau island) because it will be people who have climbing experience and are from climbing clubs.  Not the local fisherman as in the traditional event.

25 Apr: All the Tin Hau worshipers are starting to participate in events for "Tin Hau Festival" which is officially on the 1st of May this year.  To be honest, as a non Hong Kong person you probably won't be able to tell what this is apart from the fact that it is a Chinese festival.  Nevertheless it will be a great chance to see lots of lion dances, Chinese operas and offerings being made to altars.  The next big festival after this will be the Cheung Chau Bun Festival which is probably easier to understand -- that'll be on the 15th May 2005.  There is already quite a bit of controversy about the new metal bun tower.  Will write some more detail soon but the general theme is locals not being happy at the non-traditional aspects of the new tower and climbing rules.

15 Apr: If you are planning on visiting The Peak note that many of the facilities in The Peak Tower are being slowly closed down for a renovations.  The big restaurant is already closed.  However you can always go across the road to find other places to eat so the trip on the Peak Tram (cable car) is still worth it.

19 Feb: Finally winding down after Chinese New Year -- though there is still Turnip Cake in the fridge to eat -- this year it was just before the Valentine's day, so a lot of people have been looking for information Chinese Valentine's Day but actually this is much later in the year -- in August.  Though this year on the 14th Feb some bakers were selling the special cakes for Chinese Valentine's so everything is mixed up now!  The next real major festival in Hong Kong is Ching Ming.  However the lantern festival which is being celebrated this weekend is also called the "Chinese Valentine's Day" by some people because it is near the western Valentine's Day, and in ancient times in China it was a time for young people to discretely meet one another while going out in the evening to "view the beautiful lanterns". 

2 Feb: Chinese restaurant opening ceremony I have been to many Chinese dim sum restaurants but it's the first time I saw the opening ceremony and all the preparation for worshipping gods.  A life Chinese culture in Hongkong.

1 Jan: Happy New Year everybody!  Of course here in Hong Kong -- although there is a big party 1st Jan -- the real celebration will be Chinese New Year, or the Luna New Year, which is one of the big family celebration of the year.

2004 

22 Dec: Christmas in Hong Kong, it's nice to be in Hong Kong during Christmas when the pretty lights are in the harbour.  I've added two pictures to the Christmas in Hong Kong page.  Merry Christmas everybody!!

22 Nov: It was announced that the Hong Kong Disneyland is going to be the cheapest Disneyland of any!

5 Oct: Unfortunately one thing Hong Kong is weak at is respect for nature, particularly trees.  Reported in the paper today was a plan to cut down 500 mature trees near Stanley Market.  It's nice to see that some people are campaigning to save Stanley's trees though.

16 Sept: Shortly after the Moon Festival on the 28th, there will be the National day on the 1st of Oct.  Lots of people from mainland China will visit HK during this period because they have a long holiday. Besides the wonderful fireworks, most shops will be on sale to attract tourists so it's a good chance to visit HK too.

2 Sept: Mid-Autumn Festival / Moon Festival is coming. This year, it falls on 28 Sept and the next day is holiday so you can stay up late on the festival day.

22 Aug: Tomorrow is the Chinese Valentine's day, followed next weekend by the Hungry Ghosts!

5 Jul:  Pictures of Miramar Hotel Hong Kong uploaded.

28 Jun: Latest pictures of Excelsior Hotel Hong Kong.

10 Jun: Dragon Boat Festival will fall on 22nd Jun this year (Tue).  How much do you know about this festival?  What were the superstitious practices?

1 Jun: Bun Festival is finished.  Read my short account this year to see what has changed.

21 May: Bun Festival is coming (24th - 27th May) and the procession will start at 2pm 26th May this year. It's widely publicized this year especially the Bun Festival organizer wants to resume the competition - people climb up the 60 feet high bun towers to collect buns but the government insists on various safety precautions just a week before the festival which makes it virtually impossible.

12 May: United Buddy Bear Exhibition is coming.  It's an event that introduced by our super star Jackie Chan while he was filming in Germany.  [read more about United Buddy Bear Expo here]

10 May: Tin Hau birthday is on 11 May this year but Cheung Chau has it's celebration first on 6 May. [read more]

6 May: Update on practice and history of Ching Ming Festival.

25 Apr: While there is still a month to go before the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, there are banners everywhere and they are recruiting children to take part in the procession. [read more about Bun Festival]

14 Feb: Someone asked: "While in Singapore two years ago, I purchased a hand-sown Chinese Calligraphic Character on a piece of antique linen. The character was "HONG". Where can I buy more of these items?"  See 'Shopping in HK' under 'Silk and Chinese embroidery'.

1 Feb: Everybody is worried about bird flu.  The aviary in Kowloon park and Botanical Garden are closed.  Check with the Tourist Association if any bird-related attractions like Bird Market is open.

18 Jan: A laser show with sound called 'A Symphony of Lights' was launched on 17 Jan.   The special light and musical effects tells the story of Hong Kong through showcasing the major buildings along the waterfront of Victoria Harbour.  It starts at 8pm and finishes at 8:18pm every night.

5 Jan: The first SARS case in Canton in China is confirmed.  Everybody is very cautious this time. 

1 Jan:  Happy New Year!

 


2003

26 Nov - Comparison of harbour cruise.

22 Nov -  Island Hopping Pass.  If you are tired of the hectic city life of Hong Kong and want to get away from it.  You may want to consider visiting some of Hong Kong's outlying islands, including Lantau (the one with big Buddha statue) and Cheung Chau island (a fishing village).  More on Island Hopping Pass...

Nov - It is the first time that a crocodile was found in Hong Kong.  The government departments are not familiar with catching crocodile and they have not much luck so far so an expert was invited from Australia.  Unfortunately, this croc is probably quite sensitive now.  Together with the fact that news reporters plus hundreds of locals (mostly on weekend) gathered along the river hoping to see the crocodile.  Hotel nearby has even organized a tour to watch it.  If you were the croc, would you come out?

Aug - HK's tallest building International Finance Centre (IFC) is mostly done.  It's 415m tall (88 floors) and it has one of the few double-deck elevators in the world. Though it won't take long for IFC to become the second tallest building in HK when Union Square finishes in 2007 with 474m and 108 floors.

 

 

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Featured Festivals
Chinese Mid Autumn Festival / Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.  It's one of the most celebrated festivals in HK. Moon cakes, moon gazing with lanterns are the major events. Several legends are associated with it.
Chinese New Year - Don't plan any shopping on the first 3 days of Chinese New Year.  It's the most celebrated festival in Hong Kong and most shops are closed for 3 to 7 days.
 
Chinese Ching Ming Festival - Public transport will be busy on this grave-sweeping day. 
 
Picture of Cheung Chau Bun Festival in Hong KongCheung Chau Bun Festival - It's only a few years ago they decided to have the procession on the Buddhist's Birthday so that it always falls on a public holiday and everybody can enjoy.     
 
Picture of Dragon Boat Festival in Hong KongDragon Boat Festival - dragon boat race is not only a Chinese festival activity more.  There are international dragon boat races all over the world.
 
Seventh Goddess' Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. It's a sad love story about the 7th princess of Emperor and a cowherd.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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