There is a Chinese tradition during Chinese New Year where friends and families visit the Lam Tsuen wishing tree to make their wishes come true. Historically, villagers would would throw paper into these trees and make wishes. As legend has it, the higher the paper lands in the tree, the more likely that their wish will come true. Now, people from all over Hong Kong and China come to these trees to throw their paper in hopes of receiving good luck and prosperity in return.
We wrote down our goals for the new year, tied it to these small plastic oranges that they sell there (so that your paper actually gets stuck in the tree), and tossed them as high up as we could. It felt how I imagine throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome would feel. After making our wishes, we walked around to all the small food stalls and artisans selling stuffed and wooden horses, for the "Year of the Horse". They also had some art on display, representing each Chinese calendar year.
Later that weekend, we went to the big, annual Chinese New Year night parade in TST. It was a spectacle of lit-up yellow and red floats and fire-breathing performers and dancers parading the harbor front area. With hundreds of people crowding the streets, it was so crowded that we could barely see the parade. But being there was definitely an experience to be had! Chinese New Year starts the first day of the lunar year and lasts up until the Spring Lantern Festival, meaning 15 days full of family, friends, and fun celebrations. Traditionally, each married couple gives red packets ("Lai See" packets) with money in them to their friends, family members, and work colleagues. All over the city, you see these packets trading hands with greetings of good luck and a healthy new year. I was surprised to receive a couple of these packets myself!
To celebrate the ringing in of the Chinese New Year, we were lucky enough to be able to watch the fireworks from a rooftop that gave us a spectacular view. These fireworks launched from Victoria Harbour and lasted a whole whopping 30 minutes! Honestly have to admit that it was almost as impressive as the Fourth of July fireworks I have been to back in the United States. Definitely was the right was to ring in the Chinese New Year. Kang hei fat choi!