Moon Festival

It is 34 degrees and the humidity is high. Still thousands of people have found their way to Victoria Park to celebrate the Moon Festival. The park is filled with colourful lit-up figures and light displays. Children and adults alike are carrying lanterns with burning candles or light bulbs inside them. The more modern glow sticks are also heavily present. Next to the park families have gathered on a large lawn, burning incense and eating the traditional moon cakes. They are all admiring the full moon which looks even more magical through the polluted haze hovering over the city.

The Moon Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. It is mainly celebrated by eating moon cakes and fruit, carrying lit lanterns, fire dragon dancing and burning incense. It is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The moon cake is particularly central in the festivities. It is a popular gift to family and friends and it is must-eat in the days around the festival. The cakes have whole egg yolks inside them representing the moon. The cake is said to have an acquired taste, so it is not a particular favourite among foreigners. However, you can also find the more modern ice-cream and chocolate versions of the moon cake.

There are several legends surrounding the festival. One of them tells how the earth once had ten suns circling around it, taking turns being on the sky. However, one day all the ten suns went out together, making it unbearably hot on earth. An archer saved the earth by shooting down nine of the ten suns. To celebrate he brought home some pills that would make them feel happy and light at heart. His wife saw the pills and found them so good that she ate them all. The pills made her so light that she flew all the way to the moon with her rabbit that she was holding. That's why the Chinese say you can see a woman holding a rabbit in the moon.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger. Some of the displays were absolutely stunning.

The Gong Fight

It might sound like the title of a bad movie, but the "Gong Fight" is actually a 40-year-old tradition between Lady Ho Tung Hall and Ricci Hall. The gong is one of the most treasured items of Lady Ho Tung Hall. It was used to summon the girls for meals when LHT still had a canteen providing food for its residents. One day some of the cheeky Ricci boys decided to steal the gong to use it in their own canteen. The gong was quickly returned to LHT, but this was the beginning of the somewhat special tradition.

Every year around 15 Ricci boys try to steal the gong from Lady Ho Tung. The gong is tied to a rope high above the ground and the goal is for the Ricci boys to take it back to their hall. This is not an easy task as the Lady Ho Tung's freshmen have prepared thousands of water bombs in order to protect it.

The girls started making the water bombs around 10am and stopped at 7.30pm. This picture is taken around 1pm. A lot of work went into this.

The precious gong.

The first video clip shows the beginning of the gong fight. The second video clip is from about 30 minutes later when the Ricci boys are given a break to provide them with a chance of actually getting the gong down.

Needless to say there was quite a bit to clean up afterwards. Luckily that was the responsibility of the first years. Ah, you just gotta love tradition.

Back in Hong Kong

I am back in Hong Kong after a short holidays of three and half months. Some of you might remember how I was complaining about the freezing temperatures last semester, well, let me just say that it is definitely not cold now. It so hot and humid that being outside during the day is not only uncomfortable, but almost unbearable. However, all the guidebooks keep on promising that the middle of September till the end of November is the best time to visit Hong Kong weather-wise, so better times should be close.

Scared of wrinkles, sunburn or skin cancer? Then this sunscreen, sporting a SPF of 130, might be for you.

Picture from lookout over Hong Kong.

Umbrella-weather; I originally brought the umbrella because it looked like it would rain (which it later also did; in buckets), but it became more useful to shade me from the sun. Got quite a few envious looks.