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Chapter 18

Religion and Custom

Hong Kong people follow a wide range of spiritual beliefs and religious customs. They pray regularly in temples, churches, mosques and synagogues across the city, debunking a common belief their busy lifestyles prevent them from doing so. Religion is practised freely in Hong Kong, a freedom enshrined in the Basic Law.

Hong Kong enjoys religious freedom under the Basic Law and relevant legislation. Religions practised in Hong Kong include Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. Some religious bodies also run schools, and health and welfare facilities.

Buddhism and Taoism are the dominant religions in Hong Kong, this being a Chinese city.

Traditional Festivals

The Lunar New Year is the most important date in the Chinese festival calendar. It is celebrated during the days of the first new moon of the year, an auspicious time for friends and relatives to visit each other and to exchange gifts while children and unmarried adults receive lai see, or 'lucky' money in red packets.

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to honour an ancient Chinese poet, Qu Yuan, who killed himself by jumping into a river rather than compromise his honour. Dragon boat races and the eating of rice dumplings, wrapped in bamboo leaves, are the highlights of this festival.

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, grown- ups and children gather under the full moon with colourful lanterns and eat mooncakes, a traditional festival delicacy.

The Ching Ming Festival in spring and the Chung Yeung Festival in autumn are marked by visits to ancestral graves. To observe Chung Yeung, people climb hills to recall the dramatic story of how a family in ancient time fled up a mountain to escape a plague.