Tin Hau Festival Celebration at Sai Kung
The 23rd of March of the Lunar Calendar is the birthday of Tin Hau (or Mazu in Taiwan). According to informal historical recording, she was born in China around the 10th century and was later became the Goddess of the Sea.
For fishermen and people living in the coastal areas of China, this is one of the most important dates to them as Tin Hau is believed to be able to predict weather conditions and help to keep fishermen save at the sea.
This year, the Tin Hau birthday (or Tin Hau Festival) was on 8 May 2018. There are various celebration activities held by local communities in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and several traditional fishing villages.
On last Saturday, my family and I visited Sai Kung, an old fishing village in Hong Kong, and had a glimpse into one of the local celebration events.
Sai Kung is located in the eastern part of the New Territories. We first took the MTR and changed to route 962M public bus at the Tiu Keng Leng MTR Station.
The bus will go through the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Pak Sha Wan and Sai Kung City.
Within 30 minutes, we arrived at the Sai Kung Bus Terminus next to the Ferry Pier.
My boy’s friend was waiting for him at the public library and so we rushed to there without any delay.
New books related to the cultural background and history of the district are on display. If you want to know more about Sai Kung, take a look of these.
Of course, some reference books as my time-killers for the coming weeks!
Today’s Lunch
Kids are hungry and so had a quick-lunch at a small local cafe near the pier.
The two cups of hot Hong Kong style “milk-tea” at the top were excellent!
However, milk-tea is not my favourite and so I had the iced lemon tea instead.
Despite the cafe (Chan Kuen Kee 陳權記) is very small and the environment is not that comfortable, the foods are reasonably priced and to my surprise, quite yummy. 👍👍
Festival Event
Next come the theme of the day, the Tin Hau Festival celebration event that lasted for five days from 7 to 11 June 2018. The major highlight of the celebration is the traditional Chinese Opera held next to the Sai Kung’s Tin Hau Temple.
Traditional Chinese Opera
Large opera house that accommodates several hundreds of audience was built adjacent to the Tin Hau Temple.
You can also find large traditional red flower banners like the one shown below that are erected to celebrate the festival.
Celebration Carnival
Right next to the Opera house are over 40 small booths selling various kinds of traditional and localised foods as well as handicrafts that provide wonderful eating/shopping experience to the visitors.
Other Points of Interests
1. UNESCO Geopark
My boy and his friends would like to visit the UNESCO Geopark Volcano Discovery Centre, a wonderful place with lots of information on the pre-historical background of the Sai Kung area.
Since we have been there for so many times, I decided to walk along the Sai Kung Promenade by myself.
2. Seafood
Sai Kung is an old fishing village and it is very famous for its quality seafood.
Quite a lot of the visitors would like to shop for fresh seafood directly from the fishermen, as such there are a number of floating seafood stalls close to the public ferry pier.
Floating Fresh Seafood Stalls
Wide variety of seafood, attractive colours and properly arranged on the small boats.
Seafood Restaurants
Others prefer to visit the seafood restaurants instead.
These seafood restaurants are quite pricey and remember to check the menu carefully.
3. Boat Tours and other water activities
If sight-seeing is your cup of tea, you can join some of the boat tours to visit the nearby islands where you can hike, swim or have water skiing.
4. Dragon Boat Racing – Practice
The Tuen Ng Festival is coming on the next Monday (18 June 2018) and Sai Kung is one of the places for hosting of dragon boat racing.
Rowers are putting their extra efforts in the practice.
5. Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Golf Course
The Kau Sai Chau Golf Course is run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and provides standard golf course as well as training services to the public.
Unlike other prestige golf courses in Hong Kong, you don’t need to be a member before using the service. Just pay the rental fee and you can enjoy the exercise.
There are also restaurants in Kau Sai Chau providing beverage service to the visitors.
6. Flea Market
There is a regular Flea Market held on every weekend at the end of the Promenade.
Not many of them are opened in the early afternoon today. May be most of the visitors have been to the carnival and these stall owners opted to open their stall later in the evening.
7. Bird Viewers
When I strolled along the public ferry pier, I noticed that there are a group of people crowded together at one side of the pier.
Wow, look at those high-end cameras and the super-telephoto lens!
They are waiting patiently for the special moments when seagulls coming to catch the fishes.
After spending the whole afternoon in Sai Kung and enjoying the wonderful moments, its time to leave.
Picked up my family at the Geopark Discovery Centre and we took the route 92 bus back to the Choi Hung MTR Station.
On our way near the New Clear Water Bay Road, there was a police road block for prosecution of speeding.
Oops, sorry – few hundred bucks please, for the speeding.
Wow the market / festival looks so awesome. In my 6 years in hk I have never participated in these kind of festivals haha. Kinda embarassed now.
Why felt embarrassed? This was my first time as well !! 🤣🤣
Haha cuz i never went and i live there. So sad.