This year I decided to attend the hugely popular Chinese New Year Races at the Shatin Racecourse in the New Territories.

While gambling on the third day after Chinese New Year is moerse auspicious to the locals, they couldn’t have chosen a worse day: the mercury dipped to an all-time low of 7 degrees celsius.

The anticipated cold weather didn’t deter the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) as they laid on the usual off-course entertainment including the usuals: the Fortune Market, various Variety Shows, Fortune Tips by Fung Shui masters, etc.

In stark contrast to last year’s huge crowds, this year’s sparse crowd as well as online and off-course betting still netted the HKJC a whopping HK$ 1,2 Billion! You read that right… I did say BILLION. The Hong Kong Government netted a neat $149 Million in betting duties.

Word to the HKJC though, for those of us who couldn’t get into the premium boxes with their restaurant food and waiting staff, you could do better than offering dumpling joints and sickening KFC fare. Just saying.

I stayed until Race 5 when the cold forced me to back to my warm apartment in Hung Hom.

This race’s winner (and the stand-out horse all-round) was aptly-named Kung Hei Fat Chong which means ‘Happy New Year‘ in English. I played that horse in my first-ever Hong Kong races bet (see video of Race 5 below) and yes… I won $74.50 !

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Kung Hei Fat Choi.

Thankfully I had my iPhone4S with me and snapped some footage:

This is our second and final year in an apartment that undoubtedly has one of the best views for anything that happens in Victoria Harbour.  The sea is so close, I can literally throw a stone in the water from my window.

Last night was unfortunately also our final Chinese New Year fireworks display from this vantage point because we’ll be moving to another apartment after 3 years in this building.

Maybe I’ve become jaded but last night’s show, while it was great, did little to eclipse last year’s spectacular.  Maybe the rain and bitter cold also had something to with it.

As usual, the hordes of pleasure craft started assembling about half an hour before 8pm and I could hear the merriment and jingling glasses from my lounge.  Clearly the party-makers down below had enough ‘fire water’ on board to fend off the sniping 9-degree cold. Here is a clip of all the boats departing immediately after the display:

This year, the fireworks were launched from 4 barges parked in Victoria Harbour, more or less in front of the Starbucks outlet on the Avenue of the Stars. (Last year the organizers employed only 3 barges.)  The fireworks display also coincided with the daily 8pm laser-light display, so in the clips below you will also see some of the multicolored lasers atop some of the Hong Kong Island skyscrapers ‘playing along.’

I put together a longer clip (filmed on my iPhone4S) of last night’s show:

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A stunning shot from last year’s fireworks display (Pic: Mike Jansen)

In a ‘previous life‘ I used to run some recreation centres in Cape Town.

One of our services extended to the aged, which means we had to collect old folks from around our service areas, transport them to a recreation centre and keep them busy for the day.  Some of the activities included skills such as embroidering, painting, etc.

After the day’s events, they’d be duly carted back to their homes.

Here’s in Hong Kong, however, I find that the aged are so much more active.

These are some of the activities I encounter on my way to work every day here in Hung Hom (the footage is from nearby Whampoa Garden):

Picture (unrelated) from Factsanddetails.com

The annual fireworks extravaganza to usher in the Year of the Rabbit, took place last night (Friday 4 February 2011) over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

About 300,000 people gathered on either side of Victoria Harbour on Tsim Sha Tsui- and Central-side to watch the display.

Many more watched from boats and other water-craft parked a safe distance outside our apartment window as you can see from the first clip in the video below.

The fireworks display lasted for exactly 23 minutes and 23 seconds which must have some auspicious significance.

Below is a shortened clip of the 23 minute display:

One of my favourite features of Chinese New Year (other than the 2-week holidays so soon after the Christmas break) is the sight of the lovely pink plum blossoms all over the territory.

But where does the tradition come from?

Flowers are an important part of the Chinese New Year celebrations and decorations.

In old China, much use was made of natural products like flowers in celebrations as well as everyday life.

The two flowers most-associated with Chinese New Year is the water narcissus and the plum blossom.

The plum blossom stands for courage and hope as the beautiful pink blossom springs to life from a seemingly lifeless, gray branch.

The plum tree in my apartment’s lobby at first glance, seems like a fake, what with it’s gray, lifeless-looking branches.  On closer inspection though, one sees the pink flowers and notices that it’s actual flowers.

Part of the tradition is to hang red envelopes or “lucky paper” (sheets of red paper with Chinese couplets printed in gold) from the branches.

Here is the plum tree in the lobby downstairs:

Read more on 123chinesenewyear.com/symbols/

Chinese tradition calls for families to visit each other on Lunar Year’s day and here in my neck-of-the-woods I could see the effects.

Whampoa Garden was very quiet this morning with only a few people picking up last-minute gifts, etc.

However, following up on a previous post, Miffy was still the centre of attraction:

The ship is actually the Jusco Department Store (Pics: Mike Jansen)

In the old days, there was a monster who lived near a village.

This monster was called ‘Year Monster‘. It didn’t like red and it didn’t like noise.

Villagers would stick red paper on their doors and red fire crackers were lit to make loud noises so as to scare the monster. When the villagers knew that the monster had gone, they would greet and bless each other.

That’s why Chinese people lit fire crackers and stick red blessing notes on their doors.

In the first week and up to the first month, people visit their own families, relatives and friends to greet each other. Everybody dress up in new clothes.

Lai See/Lucky packets

Edible things like biscuits, chocolate or fruits will be given to the host as presents and the host has to return a small red packet with money to return the luck. When people meet, they wish each other good luck and married couples have to give ‘lai see‘ (red packet with money) to children and not married adults (not too old though, maybe under mid 20). ‘Lai see‘ means luck so when one gives out ‘lai see‘, that means he has plenty of luck to share with others. Therefore, when a couple sees a child, they have to give out 2 ‘lai see‘.

Unlucky words and curses are completely forbidden during Chinese New Year.

A new tradition now is to send Chinese New Year greeting cards. In the past this was not done but now that families are so spread out around the world people send cards with the good wishes for the New Year. And now that we live in the internet world you can even send Chinese New Year Greeting Cards.

(From: HKfastfacts.com)

Flowers are a key part of the Lunar New Year celebrations

The Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade takes place on Lunar New Year’s day on Thursday 3 February 2011.

Organisers have announced that all tickets for the exclusive seating area at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui are sold out.

However, spectators can still line the Parade route to view one of the most spectacular events in Hong Kong.

The route:

The parade starts at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui and proceeds along Canton Road, Haiphong Road, Nathan Road and Salisbury Road, and ends outside Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers.

If you’re planning to take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui, here are the directions:

To Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui

* MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit F, take passage way to Exit L6.

* MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit L6.

* Star Ferry from either Central or Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui.

To parade route

* MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit A, C, D and E.

* MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit K, L1 and L5.

(Click here to view a graphic map of the Parade route)

The Lunar New Year Parade will also pass through Canton Road, a popular shopping district in TST

There are very few cultures in the world with as many rituals and beliefs as the Chinese.  That I can promise you. I learned many of them while living in Taiwan and now that I find myself in Hong Kong, I’m learning many of the Cantonese ways.

In Chinese culture there are many rituals that involve children.

I ‘work‘ in an environment where most of my colleagues are female and (probably) of child-bearing age so natually the following ritual gets repeated in the office several times a year.

Here I’m referring to the eating of stewed pork knuckle and ginger.  I have not eaten this dish , touch wood, so I will refrain from calling it a delicacy.

According to Cantonese culture this dish must be eaten to herald the birth of a child.  It is also their belief that it aids the recovery of the mother in her first month of post-partum recovery. The so-called “resting month” or choe yuet (坐月) in Cantonese language is crucial to the health of the mother.

In fact this is but one in a series of strange beliefs during this time.

Here are some more:

• Refrain from taking a shower or bath for a month. Use only water boiled with the skin of ginger to shower, if you really have to.

• Try not to shampoo your hair for the first week at least. Again use ginger water to shampoo if you really have to. Blow dry hair immediately.

• After giving birth, drink roasted rice water instead of plain water for several days.

• Drink the roasted rice tea or boiled water. Do not drink straight from the tap.

• Keep warm all the time.

What to eat and not to eat:

1.• Eat a dish made from pig’s knuckle, ginger, sweet black vinegar, and eggs to aid the recovery.

Cook the pig knuckle ginger vinegar (at least) one month before the arrival of the baby. (Keep the ginger skin for the shower. Dry the ginger skin and store in bags.)

2.• Do NOT eat pig livers or pigeons, or drink soups made from these ingredients, as they will stop the production of milk.

3.• Any kind of fish soups or papaya fish soup will help the production of the milk.

While tradionally the pork knuckle and ginger dish is cooked from scratch at home, the modern working Hongkonger does not have the luxury of time so they just buy it ready-made… in huge plastic containers.

This is how it is cooked at home:

This is how it is sold for busy Hongkongers and what my office’s kitchen looks like today:

Unlike before, where the annual Chinese New Year Night Parade extended all the way to East Tsim Sha Tsui, the Parade will this time around be limited to Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade is one of the best-loved events of the entire Chinese New Year celebrations and certainly a must-see on my family’s list.

The theme this years is World City, World Party and as always the parade features illuminated floats accompanied by spectacular international and local performing groups.  In previous years some South African troupes were flown in, although I don’t remember any Saffas taking part last year.

There is always a carnival atmosphere as festive crowds line the route around Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the colourful parade pass by, but if you don’t want to be in those throngs, you can always purchase a ticket that will guarantee you a great vantage point from a raised platform.

Tickets will go on sale from Saturday 22 January at HK$350/ $300/ $220/ $180 per person.  These are for spectator stands with seating at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza, Canton Road, Nathan Road and Salisbury Road.

The Night Parade is truly an international event in that it doesn’t only include Chinese culture and performers.  My favourite international act is, of course, the cheerleaders from the good ol’ US of A!

Here is your invitation to this year’s Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade:

This is what happened at the Night Parade last year:

Despite all the international acts, the Chinese cultural acts are THE draw-card for the crowds!