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Hong Kong

Chinese New Year’s Traditions

This upcoming Chinese New Year will celebrate the Earth Dog and will be held on Friday 16 February 2018. This date, which changes every year, is chosen accordingly with the Chinese lunar calendar and is also called The Spring Festival. Here are some interesting facts about Chinese New Year’s traditions: - To welcome the new year, people will clean and tidy their...

Spooky story alert

Like most old buildings, Sai Ying Pun Old Mental Hospital comes with its own fair share of spooky ghost stories. Constructed in 1892, it was originally used as a living quarter for nurses until World War II, and then converted into a psychiatric hospital until 1961. Unoccupied for the next decade, the Hong Kong government decided to renovate it in...

The story behind the papier-mâché shops

If you wander around lower Sai Ying Pun you will notice shops selling odd papier-mâché imitations of luxury bags, cars, iPhone and so on… These uncommon finds, which look like handy craft ‘decorations’, are actually papier-mâché offerings for late relatives, friends or beloved ones. In Taoism and Buddhism, they are used for different occasions. During festivals like Chinese New Year,...

Old Colonial Peak

In the late 1890s, Europeans who resided in the City of Victoria gradually moved to places of higher altitude to evade a Bubonic Plague which was spreading from China. Many houses were built to accommodate more and more families who were also finding the heights of Victoria Peak more comfortable and cooler than the City Centre. Houses were first built on...

The Lantern Festival

The mid-autumn festival is one of Hong kong's biggest celebrations. Its purpose is to thank the moon for generous harvests. The festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, hence changing date every year. Several legends are connected to this festival: People say that the beautiful Chang O, wife of the Divine Archer, flew into...