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in Tai O, following the practice of the Houwang Temple in Kowloon City, Tung Chung sets the date on the 15th of the eighth lunar month. As explained by local villagers, people in a farming community such as Tung Chung, in contrast to the fishing community of Tai O, are busy with farm work until mid-autumn. Setting the date for festival celebration in the slack season guarantees mass participation and enjoyment to the full,52
During this festival of four days and five nights, representatives of Tung Chung's villages present the best sacrificial offerings to their local principal temple. All inhabitants from the area participate in the mass worship of their patron god. It is the climax of religious and social activities of the year as operas, Ch'iang-p'ao (rocket-snatching) contests, and other forms of entertainment are incorporated in the god's birthday observance. For the performance of the opera show, a bamboo stage is built in the open area in front of the main entrance of the Houwang Temple. On two sides of the stage, many stalls are set up in rows selling food, oblations, religious souvenirs, and even toys. Among these booths are some for the "rocket associations" which are formed mainly by competing villages and organizations in the names of 'ang, to vie with one another in the capture of lucky rockets. These rockets are considered relics of the temple god, or representations of the deity, which will bring good fortune and glory to the winning units. They must be returned to the temple with a thanksgiving observance on the god's birthday in the following year.
Before World War II, according to the natives, the "rocket-snatching" contest was held on the 18th of the eighth lunar month during which rockets were shot into the air by officers in charge of temple management. Representative members of the rocket associations, usually young men assembled in the square in front of the temple, would then scramble for the numbered wooden tablets inside the rockets just fired. Whoever got hold of the tablets could purchase the rocket numbered accordingly.
After the War, owing to population increase, fighting over the possession of the rockets became a serious problem. In 1949, to reduce the chances of violent conflict, some rural areas decided that participants would draw lots for the rockets. In Tung Chung in recent years,