Chinese New Year in Hong Kong 2010

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We returned to Hong Kong from Australia just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year. It is a special time of year in Hong Kong - although the weather is invariably cold and cloudy. The city itself is largely deserted. People take advantage of the holidays to leave for warmer climes, skiing or visiting family. For those who remain, including us, the reward is quieter roads, lion dances and fireworks.

Each Chinese New Year we head to the Dynasty Club for lunch. The food is great - and both Georgia and Byron love dim sum. But most importantly, every year the Dynasty Club has a wonderful Lion Dance in the foyer, with the lion and its entourage later paying a visit to everyone in the restaurants. The lion dance is performed by skilled acrobats and martial artists. It is very athletic and the lion literally seems to come to life. And there is plenty of noise, including drums, to make the dance memorable theatre.

In the evenings, Hong Kong lights up with fireworks over the harbour. One of the best places to watch the fireworks is the Consulate, so we joined some of my colleagues in the conference room for some snacks, wine and a feast of fireworks. The spectacle goes on for around 20 minutes, and we love every minute of it. There's a wonderful range of colours and styles of fireworks, and against the reflecting sea and the lights of the buildings on the other side of the harbour, it is a delightful sight.

Happily, the following day is a public holiday, but that is lost on Georgia and Byron, who both wake punctually at an unreasonable hour, with a cheerful expectation that they'll go to the beach and the playground. Given their expectant smiles and Georgia's tendency to be insistent, not taking them is not an option. And so, as we do most mornings, we head to Stanley Main Beach in search of puddles to jump in and crabs to silently watch in wonder. Georgia, a very Hong Kong sort of girl, finds uneven sand less pleasant to walk on than concrete, marble or timber (don't even mention grass, which is rare and unwelcome), and so is happy to hold her dad's hand, even though we're in public.

From the beach it is a short stroll to the playground. Georgia flirts with using the larger yellow slide, but on reflection opts for the safer, smaller orange slide. It is a sense of caution not adopted by Byron, who sees every potential descent as just one more step. Usually he steps into an abyss while I have a handful of his shirt, and his descent is measured and his landing soft. From the play ground it is off to the Tian Huo temple - a local shrine to a range of gods, complete with incense and traditional lions out the front. Georgia loves to see the lions, and pats them and says "hello lion". On most Sundays and public holidays, McDonald's is our next step, for a feast of pancakes. Later in the day, we all drop in at the community playroom, a large padded room with padded things to play with - a "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" room for children.

The last day of Chinese New Year celebrations was marked by the arrival of the US aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. From our bedroom, Simone saw it sail past Stanley on its way to its temporary berth closer to Victoria harbour. It was great to see it sail by, and that evening I went to a reception on it. There's something delightfully incongruous about drinking decent wine on one of the ultimate expressions of military might. The Nimitz is huge, and carries almost the equivalent of Australia's air force. Spooky, but fun.

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Photos

The East is Red
Fireworks over Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

Breakfast negotiations
Byron checks with Georgia

The morning after
G & B decide, '"There shall be no sleeping in!"

Stanley Main Beach ...
... at an unreasonable hour

I can jump puddles ...
but I still prefer to splash in them.