Local Colors

Customs, Festivals & Celebrations

• Chinese New Year - the biggest event to the Chinese; January / February. more...
• Mid-Autumn festival - moon-cakes and Chinese lanterns under a full moon; usually in September. more...
• Dragon Boat festival - rice dumplings and dragon boat racing; usually in May / June. more...
• Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance - a different kind of dragon dance; usually in Aug / Sept. more...
• weddings - weddings in Hong Kong have are a mix of traditions from east and west; usually on Saturday or Sunday, excerpt if the couple or their parents are want to do it on a "lucky day" to ensure a good marriage or plenty of offsprings. more...
• Ching Ming festival - a time to pay respects to dead ancestors. more...
• funerals - hopefully you won't have one here

See the Hong Kong Tourism Board website for other festivals

Food

• Snake soup - a local saying goes: 'autumn winds rise - three snakes fat' more...
• Worm veg? - you decide for yourself exactly what it is! more...
• Chicken feet soup - talk about "reaching from beneath"! more...
• Claypot rice - rice cooked with meat, winter favorite more...
• Thousand year egg - blackened preserved eggs, a local favorite. more...
• Pineapple bun - a favorite pastry. more...
• Cocktail bun - a favorite pastry.
• Steamed egg custard - a tasty dessert. more...
• dim sum dishes
  • fish head - a favorite dim sum dish. more...
  • lotus leaf rice
  • egg tarts
  • "cheung fan" - rice pasta, popular breakfast food more...
  • "cha siu" bun - roast pork bun
  • chicken feet
  • tofu jello - bean curd gelatin more...

Misc

• End product delivery - I don't want to give it away: you'll have to see it! more...
• Bamboo scaffolding - from renovation involving the outside wall of a 50-storey building to erecting a neon sign hanging over a busy road, bamboo scaffolding is widely used. Just keep your eyes open and you will see them everywhere. [more]
• Herbal medicine - with a history of literally thousands of years in China, herbal medicine and treatment is quite common in Hong Kong. [more]
• Shoesmith - streetside shoe repair [more]
• Pawn shops - even when you see one, you may not recognize it since many of them don't display an English name. But there are ways to tell ... [more]
• Cantonese opera - the traditional form of opera set in ancient times. more...
• Mahjong - a favorite passtime for many. more...
• Chinese junk (boat) - fishermen families used to live in these [more]
• toilets - in some you are treated like royalty, in others... more...
• filming - you might just catch a glimpse of some local movie stars more...