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The traditional Chinese touch extended to the typically Chinese
waxed paper parasol with which an escort shielded her from the drizzle
as the various members of the Organising Committee were presented to her
by the Committee Chairman, Mr. A. De 0. Sales.
When she was about to take her seat in the pavilion, the Governor
played Sir Walter Raleigh by laying his raincoat on her chair, inevitably
dampened by the weather.
The parade was led off by a representative contingent of the
armed forces, comprising the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, 'C' Squadron
Royal Tank Regiment, the Hong Kong Military Service Corps, the Royal
Hong Kong Regiment 'The Volunteers', the Royal Hampshire Regiment and
the 20th Light Regiment Royal Artillery.
The Southern Band of the Royal Air Force, which had entertained
guests before the arrival of the Royal party, gave way to the corps of
drums of the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards and the band of the 1st Battalion
the Royal Hampshire Regiment, The military contingent was followed offsṭage
by the massed pipes and drums of the Brigade of Gurkhas.
Next came music of a very different order, quiet, restrained and
performed by the Lung Cheung Orchestra on traditional Chinese instruments.
The musicians themselves were dressed in traditional gowns, playing just
below and to the right of the Royal Box, as they would for an opera on
stage.
The atmosphere of the stage was reinforced from the very first
item, a complex dance depicting how lotus fairies are awakened by festive
maidens so that they join in the revelry. Presented by the Tung Wah Group
of Hospitals, the dance revolved around a giant lotus blossom pulled on
wheels.
/Next came .***