www.x
上
香港仔瀑和
龍
荐
15
矯
荃、
揚
t
龍惠存
Days of prayer -and fun
Alongside the vigorous activity of big business in Hong Kong, many Chinese
S
festivals continue to be celebrated with great enthusiasm. Small villages on the territory's many islands have maintained themselves by fishing for hundreds of years, and most folk pay homage to the Taoist sea goddess Tin Hau, or Queen of Heaven. One of the most popular celebrations is at the Tin Hau temple in Joss House Bay, where hundreds of craft adorned with flags, pennants and banners gather to observe her birthday the 23rd day of the third moon. In 1979, villagers from the island of Tap Mun held their special celebration for Tin Hau - an event which is organised only once every 10 years. Legend has it that after the Heavenly Queen saved a group of ship- wrecked villagers from drowning, they vowed to commemorate her mercy. Some family members now living in Britain, Holland and the United States returned for the colourful festivities. On the island of Cheung Chau, a temple dedicated to Pak Tai, Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, is the focal point for the famous Bun Festival. Thousands of buns marked with Chinese characters are strung on to bamboo towers for a traditional 'ghost feast. During the Dragon Boat Festival, which is based on a folk tale some 2,500 years old, exuberant teams in long, narrow dragon boats race each other, spurred on by the quickening beat of their drummers.
:
こ
Previous page: Water taxis ferry people from fishing junks moored at Tap Mun Island for Tin Hau celebrations. Left: Dec- orative flags exhort teams competing in the Dragon Boat Festival races; elders in tradi- tional dress at the opening ceremony of the Tap Mun Festival; coils of incense, offered by worshippers, in the Pak Tai temple on Cheung Chau.
:
::