Taiko Drums

Creepy Lanterns
The head of Dragon
Waiting for the show

Preparing the dragon

Chasing the Dragon

It’s the night of the Mid-Autumn festival and what is there to do? Most people go to the parks and bring lanterns and candles to burn while eating mooncakes and staring at the moon. This year, the moon was the biggest it had been in years due to its orbit. I don’t know what it is but it seems so small here. The moon seems way bigger in the northern hemisphere. Enough whining. I went to Tai Hang in Tin Hau to see the elusive “fire dragon.”

The story goes that in the late 1800s, there was an epidemic in the small farming village of Tai Hang. This was a common occurrence during the Chinese New Year which is often in the spring when food supplies are low and the temperature is cooler. The villagers decided to create a huge grass dragon and fill it full of incense to try to scare away the disease causing spirits. Traditionally held during the New Year, it is now also done during the autumn festival 3 times a night for 3 nights. This dragon is huge, requiring about a hundred people to parade it and stretching over 200 meters. Not for those with respiratory problems as this thing is jammed full of burning incense. The most amazing part of the display was the cute little East Indian girl in the procession as one of the little lotus lantern carrying girls in traditional silk garb and pigtails. Sadly, that’s the first time I’ve seen some honest diversity here.

To cap off the evening, I went to Victoria Park to see the big lantern display. There was something really trippy about seeing huge human lanterns with plastic heads. I would not recommend this for the chronic users in the crowd. It was creepy enough sober. The bizarre undulating multi-colored nuclear reactors with steam pouring out of them display was one of the most hideous things I have ever seen. They kept blaring classical Chinese music and the whole thing made no sense. It seemed so…mainland china. I predict we will be seeing the same display for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.