Happy Chinese New Year! Today was beautiful in Hong Kong with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 60s F. The streets are quiet since most people are with their families enjoying the holiday. The Chinese New Year is marked by the lunar calendar so the actual date varies each year.
We have prepared our Lei See. Lei See are red envelopes with gold writing that symbolize good luck and prosperity. In each envelope you place new HK dollars to give to single people and children. The bills must be new so long lines often occur at the banks several days prior to the New Year.
Gold foil wrapped chocolate coins are also handed out along with dried candied fruit. Turnip cake is prepared especially for this holiday although we haven't tried it yet. I have visions of fruit cake dancing in my head.
We were fortunate enough to attend a Lion Dance Performance this afternoon. The Lion is actually two people underneath a costume of gold or red. One manipulates the head and one the tail. The Lions acrobatically hop from strategically placed pillars which are several feet off the ground. They also eat green lettuce (good luck and prosperity), chew it up and spit it out around them to spread the wealth. All of this ensures a prosperous New Year.
The entire time this is going on there is music being played by a drummer, gong and many cymbals. Our musicians were dressed in fluorescent orange pants with black tops emblazoned with dragons. Yes orange and black really! I thought I was back in Webster Groves.
After the performance we headed off to Man Mo Temple to light incense for the upcoming year. Rusty thought I was bonkers, but he did agree to humor me and check it out. Man Mo Temple is the oldest in Hong Kong and is Taoist. It was built in the 1840's. It is named after 2 deities: Man (the god of literature) and Mo (the god of war). Giant incense coils hang from the ceiling. People come during the New Year to light incense and the smoke carries their prayers up to the spirit world.
We took the MTR and then walked to the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator which is quite unusual. It is the world's longest escalator at 2,600 feet. It is not continuous, but has stops along the way for pedestrians to get off and on. In the morning from 6 - 10 am it goes down and from 10:20 am - midnight it goes up. Next to it are stairs when you need to go the other way.
We got off at Holywood Road (I kid you not) and headed for Man Mo Temple. Most of the stores were closed and not many people were out so it was a real treat. We could walk at our leisure and enjoy the fine day. As we approached the temple we saw a line running down the street. Could it be? Yes everyone was queued up to get into Man Mo Temple. Well Rusty will only humor me so far. He was not about to wait in that line to watch me light incense.
We did walk down to the temple to get a better view. The incense was so thick it was billowing from the roof, windows and doors. An old woman walked past me with incense ashes on her head and shoulders. Maybe my allergies couldn't really take this. I'll come back when the year settles in.
Tonight is the big Chinese New Year Parade. Floats, marching bands, dragon and lion dancers from around the world participate. It is THE event of the new year. People queue up hours in advance to get a spot. All forms of mass transit are clogged for hours after. No wonder people don't work tomorrow. We are watching on the television from the comfort of our hotel room.
Tomorrow we officially move into our apartment. A new beginning of the new year! We won't have internet access until Feb. 09 so I/you could be blog free until then. If I get anxious to write, who knows, I may go in search of some Wi-Fi.
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