Last year I missed the Chinese New Year market in Victoria Park. This year, I was back again with a vengeance, making the trip two nights in a row.

Stepping out of the MTR station on the first night, the streets were literally overflowing with people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Causeway Bay more crowded.

Jumping into the fray, I cut a path straight towards Victoria Park, the site of the yearly market.

What’s the attraction? Why is it worth visiting? Why go back every year?

For those of you who’ve never been, the Chinese New Year fair is a unique experience. The location runs across Victoria Park from Causeway Bay all the way to Tin Hau. It’s a crowded, chaotic atmosphere with people yelling and hawking all sorts of merchandise simultaneously.

If you’re searching for peace and quiet, this is definitely not the place!

The experience is almost like being in a weird sort of parade, as you wrap your way down different aisles checking out the items for sale and being enticed to either side by people shouting at the top of their lungs, waving their merchandise at you.

I wouldn’t recommend the market for the claustrophobic, for very young children, or those in a rush. If you choose the wrong aisle you could easily be trapped in standstill traffic for 30 minutes, with strangers pressed up onto you. The place even proves popular after 1am in bad weather, so it’s difficult to suggest a time when it’s less hectic. If you navigate the different aisles carefully, it’s possible to work your way around to most places in the market.

This year was particularly packed, despite the rain on the final night.

Except for large plants, which are kept in the last aisle, most things for sale are inexpensive, with prices below $50 HKD. On the final night, on the eve of Chinese New Year, the prices drop as hawkers look to get rid of their inventory.

There’s a huge assortment of objects corresponding to the particular year (animal) of the Chinese zodiac. Therefore it changes every year, on a twelve-year cycle, often with creative new additions.

The items for sale fall into a few different categories: traditional, lucky, cute, and sometimes, just plain funny. An example of classic, more traditional items are things like over-sized pinwheels, small orange trees, flowers such as peach blossoms (‘to fa’,) and willows.

These are thought to bring luck in one form or another. Some target relationships, while others are for business or wealth. Occasionally, you also find the type of stuff sold on infomercials, such as stain-removers, shoe trees and other miscellaneous objects.

Less plastic and more plush
With this being the tiger year, there was a huge assortment of tiger-themed merchandise for sale including hats, costumes, claws, paws and stuffed animals.

Most of them were created using furry plush, rather than the blow-up plastics commonly used in the last few years.

As usual there were some extraneous cute items – though nothing as standout as the giant ‘gai daan jai’, ice cream, or Chupa Chups from previous years. Maneuvering through the thick crowds I spotted a giant egg tart with a re-arrangeable face, and a nearly meter long McDonald’s pie.

This camera was one of the few non-tiger blow-ups I spotted

One item that perhaps only proved popular on the final night (when it was raining,) were the ‘acid-proof’ umbrellas.

These reference a few unfortunate incidents of someone throwing acid from buildings onto crowded pedestrian streets over the last year. Not sure how tasteful or auspicious they are however…

Especially popular were the many different styles of tiger hats, as well as varieties of giant soft tiger claws. Some even made a noise (more like a monkey than a tiger actually,) when a particular spot was pressed.

Have a look at photos from previous Chinese New Year posts: 2006, 2007, 2008, (also from 2008), and 2009.

Best wishes from Hong Kong Hustle to you in year of the tiger!

Most people associate Chinese New Year with spending time with family, visiting relatives and catching up with close friends. But every year, part of the fun occurs when these normal home gatherings get transformed into make-shift casinos!

Gambling is deeply ingrained in Hong Kong society and legal in several forms. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has branches all over the city, processes bets on horse racing and soccer, as well as runs a popular lottery called the Mark Six.

Gambling during Chinese New Year isn’t as much about winning or losing as it is a social activity. The stakes can be extremely low (even less than $1 HKD.) Being part of the action allows you to joke around with your friends and have a group experience, as some games are played against a banker.

Aside from mahjong, which makes an appearance at gatherings all year round, a few other games are played especially during Chinese New Year.

Fish Shrimp Crab
I wish this game was played all year round!

On a paper mat you have six images: coins, crab, rooster, fish, shrimp, and calabash (a bottle-shaped gourd). Instead of numbers, the dice also feature these six images.

The gamblers place money on each item they think will correspond to the rolled dice.

The dealer shakes three dice in a bowl before opening up to reveal the outcome.

If one of the dice is a shrimp, people who placed money on a shrimp will win, similarly if you bet on the fish and the die is a fish you win. If there were two shrimp dice rolled, the amount paid would be double, and so forth. Fish Shrimp Crab is kid-friendly and totally addictive!

Big and Small aka High Low
Sometimes printed on the reverse side of the Fish Shrimp Crab piece of paper, is another game called Big and Small. This game uses three normal, six-sided dice. There are many combinations of numbers printed on the paper that match the potential outcome of the dice.

You need to place bets on either the total amount of the dice or the individual numbers of the dice rolled. For example, if a 6, 2, and 5 were rolled, they would yield a total of 13, and anyone betting the total of the dice correctly would win, Similarly placing money on whether the amount is greater than 11, or contained a 6, 2, or 5 would win. The odds printed on the paper are different, with the highest pay-out on unlikely outcomes, such as guessing that the three dice will be 1, 1, 1 etc.

Gambling during Chinese New Year it’s said that you can win “lucky money”. Playing Fish Shrimp Crab and Big and Small with friends I quit while I was ahead. My winnings? $1 HKD!

Last Wednesday I attended a traditional Chinese New Year dinner organized by fashion designer William Tang. The celebration, which he hosts every year, takes place in the Tang family ancestral hall that dates back 700 years!

The building itself is an interesting, mostly outdoor structure, which is made up of several courtyards. I arrived a little early and had a chance to take photos before guests began to stream in.

After nightfall, the dozens of tables were packed with people and they began to serve a series of traditional dishes.

One of the more interesting ones was ‘poon choi‘.

Poon choi is actually a multi-layered medley of foods. It’s typically served in a big bowl and eaten on notable occasions. The dinner I attended was something like an outdoor feast, which is a typical scenario for eating poon choi.

The big bowl is piled high with nearly a dozen kinds of meats and seafood. (I kept thinking that Homer Simpson would love it!) Each table had a portable gas range that kept it warm.

As I looked around I noticed some tables of people were eating while standing up – at first I thought this was because there were not enough seats! Later I was told that this is another custom.

After the dinner we briefly stopped by William Tang’s family home just a few feet away in the village. He’s done an interesting job restoring the place and modernizing it, yet keeping its traditional beauty intact.

If you’re ever interested in visiting the Tang Ancestral Hall, it’s part of a collection of attractions on the Ping Shan Historical Trail. The hall itself is just a short walk from the Tin Shui Wai stop on the West Rail.

Tang Ancestral Hall
Ping Shan, Yuen Long
New Territories
Open 9:00am – 1:00pm & 2:00pm – 5:00pm daily.
Closed on the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year

‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’! It’s Chinese New Year again – the biggest holiday of the year. Yesterday marked the beginning of year of the pig.

So how does life change in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holiday? Most businesses shut down. Essentials such as supermarkets operate on only a limited schedule. Due to the nearly week long break, many people go away on holiday. Often people spend time with their family and visit relatives. Married couples give red packets filled with money to their children, relatives and colleagues. With the cease of most construction, the city is far quieter than usual. Where I live, you can hear birds instead of buses when you wake up!

One fun part of celebrating Chinese New Year is going to the special new year’s flower market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. It’s PACKED with four, three-block lanes of stalls and people selling all sorts of items to bring luck and good fortune in the coming year. The atmosphere is raucous and fun.

Hawkers rent booths and decorate them (sometimes outlandishly) to attract attention. The merchandise on sale is extensive. Over the last few years, blow-up inflatable items have gained popularity. The plastic blow-ups are based on everything from animals of the Chinese zodiac, to items that sound like something with a double meaning in Cantonese, to items that deal with a current issue. For example, this year there were giant cigarettes, making reference to the recent ban of smoking in Hong Kong’s restaurants and public areas (which is a huge deal in a place with a deeply entrenched smoking culture.)

Old standards meant to bring good fortune are also present at the market. These include different types of flowers and fruits such as small orange trees. Pussy willows (for financial fortune) and peach blossoms (for love life) are also two of the more popular choices. (I bought both!)

Colorful paper and plastic pin-wheels seem to be popular items.

Small charms often in faux-jade that help to protect people of different zodiacs are also available for purchase.

Wonder what it’s like to walk through hundreds of stalls in a sea of thousands? Check out the videos!

Here are a few additional photos to set the scene for you…

The following three videos I shot while walking through the crowds. You’ll see lots of pig paraphenalia, pin-wheels and people!

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Several people have told me that you can judge the current state of Hong Kong’s economy by the vibrancy of the yearly Christmas displays. Entire sections of the city are draped with multiple-story lights in celebration of Christmas and Chinese New Year.

From the look of things, the year was a prosperous one. Follow the link to check out the scenery in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui East neighborhood.

Some of the more ambitious buildings have different lights for each holiday. Christmas light iconography is similar to displays in the U.S., except stretched over Hong Kong’s high-rise landscape. Typical Chinese New Year lights show the animal that corresponds to the incoming zodiac – for example, this year would be a pig. Some buildings combine the two holidays into one display.

I’m a sucker for fireworks. I headed up to The Peak to check out the view from the top of Hong Kong Island. I took a taxi up, which is about a ten minute ride from Central. I got off at The Peak Lookout Cafe and made my way through the crowds who had the same idea I did. It was a clear night out and The Peak would have an amazing view of the fireworks which were set to explode from barges in the harbor. Once the show began I was surprised that they lasted a full 30 minutes. The last time I watched fireworks it was only 15 minutes worth. After about ten minutes I started to get antsy, so I left my first view point and headed along a path to check out the show from a different vantage point.

Although I missed part of the show, the aftermath of the fireworks was equally as impressive. A huge cloud of thick black smoke covered Tsim Sha Tsui, and blocked out the view of Kowloon side for around 20 minutes. This eerie view made for some cool photos. Click to see a bigger view.

For the second year in a row I attended Dragon-i’s Chinese New Year celebration. This year they also featured a lion dance and music by the d.j. Paul “Trouble” Anderson. The lion dance is always a special treat. It featured two lions – a silver one and a gold one. At the height of the performance the lions fetched something from the ceiling using their mouths. It is then unfurled and opens to be a banner with good new years wishes.

Every year there is a huge fair and flower market set up in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. It features hundreds of vendors in rows and rows of stands. The more traditional offerings are flowers – several of which symbolize luck for different things. The more modern offerings seem to be inflatable plastic toys of all manner and size. Most of these were on sale for around $10 HKD which is a little under $1.50 USD. Another element is the fact that Chinese New Year is tied to the zodiac which consists of different animals (the year you are born corresponds to one of these animals.) This year is Year of the Dog, so there was much dog-related merchandise on display.

The fair which covers around a quarter of a mile was completely packed!

The most major holiday in Hong Kong is Chinese New Year. It falls on a different day each year, and this is when people take their one-week long vacations. To coincide with this important holiday there are always big films released during this time. This year one of the films is The Shopaholics, starring Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi and Lau Ching Wan. I’m digging the poster. Another film that is being released at this time is Jet Li’s Fearless, which I’m also planning on catching. Fearless looks to be more like a classic Jet Li martial arts film, than a high-brow Crouching Tiger type epic, which is what’s been missing from the cinematic landscape for a long time. Congratulations to my friend Jacky for landing a role in this film!