Mid-Autumn Festival...

This lantern shows the mascot of the equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics being held in Hong Kong.

...and Hong Kong lights up its beautifully crafted lanterns again during the next 14 nights! For those who care, the Mid-Autumn-Festival is a 3.000-year-old festival based on the myth about a mischievous wife who was sentenced to life on the moon for eternity. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month (sep 25th this year) is a time to either head to the Beaches with your lanterns in tow or to the park with family & friends to gaze at the full moon, check out the shows, dances and of course the lanterns. You also gather to eat fresh fruits and mooncakes which are sent in hampers throughout the City to wish good luck to your relatives/friends and business partners.

Coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival is the unique Fire Dragon Dance in Tin Hau. "The 67-metre-long dragon is studded with thousands of burning joss sticks that at night produce an incredible spectacle of fire, smoke and dynamic fury as the dragon wends and dances through the backstreets. It's said that in 1880 a plague broke out in Tin Hau and, appearing in the dream of a village elder, Buddha instructed the villagers to light firecrackers and perform a fire dragon dance for three days and nights. Sulphur from the firecrackers dispelled the plague and the ritual has been repeated annually ever since;"

Wong Tai Sin Temple Decoration during Lantern Festival




...and these are impressions from Victoria Park






PS: To enlargen the pictures just click on them.