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to see it face to face. Some of the others replied that there was nothing to fear, as it had been the practice for several hundreds of years for women to take part. Later when the procession was returning to Shek O I noticed a little boy with his ball and a young couple with their children in a pram. The comment was heard: “gou-hing, tai-ye” (Have a nice time and look at interesting things). The women were chatting all the way, and there were many young girls too.
When the procession had gone down Tai Long Wan Road, I heard three or four women talk among themselves about Seung Wai, where their homes had been. A young one recalled that they used to have banana trees there, which produced good bananas and some rice-like stuff, which, her grandmother had told her, was good as chicken feed. The place being more spacious, they had been able to raise chicken too. Her grandmother had pointed out to her where the daai-wong-ye's place was — near where the paddy fields were.
At one point the bus from Shek O approached, and the young man with the loudspeaker called out to the driver by name “Come on, it is all right if you want to switch on the headlights." I noticed many cars were hindered from proceeding before the bus, but this did not seem to have bothered the young man at all. The procession made way for the bus to pass, neglecting the other vehicles.
When the procession reached the edge of Tai Long Wan village, the daai-si-wong was put down on the ground facing the village. Many individuals, mainly middle-aged and young women, came to make offerings of incense. A table had been set up for the purpose. Some older women and men looked on. Children were led to walk around the legs of the paper image for good luck. Someone said, “Walk around the legs and you will win the Mark Six lottery".
The procession was back at the main ritual area at about 8:30. The daai-si-wong was left facing an altar used by the priests, where an extra table had been set up for the concluding rite. Many came to make offerings at all the altars, but they paid more attention now to the daai-si-wong. Many more, not only small children, but