#hongko

Before Christmas, there’s this festival called Dongzhi—Winter Solstice Festival. Now the background behind this festival is pretty complicated, but know this: we Chinese divided the year into 24 solar terms, in which each solar terms has its own weather speciality. It was originated to help farmers with their crops since different weather conditions mean different methods to grow crops.The Winter Solstice Festival is the 22nd solar term, and it is the day when the Nothern hemisphere has the longest night and shortest daytime. It usually lands between the 21st to 23rd of December this year it landed on the 22nd. This is the time when we gather together with our families and have a nice long dinner. Some festive foods are dumplings and red bean paste. Believe me when I say they’re absolutely delectable, especially the dumplings. It’s kinda like Thanksgiving minus the turkey because it’s also the time to mull over what we’ve accomplished this year and what we should be grateful for.

Lots of students here in Hong Kong have the trend of writing Christmas cards, even though some have already reached adulthood and are studying in university. Our schoolwork is extremely busy here, with at least 7-10 pieces of homework a day and frequent dictations and tests. Therefore, just before the day of the starting of the Christmas holiday, people start busying themselves with Christmas cards in the lessons. It’s been two years since I’ve entered secondary school and this year’s Christmas card writing scene didn’t fail to disappoint— and I was part of it. There’s always a Christmas party right before the Christmas holiday for every school, and that was the day to handle the piling-in Christmas cards and deliver the cards you wrote. It was like tons of Santa Clauses dancing around the school, flinging cards everywhere. Adrenaline is high up in the air as people rush to finish the cards on that last day. It’s an exciting and warm atmosphere, just what everyone would love before Christmas.

On the day of Christmas—the day when every single Western restaurant is packed with people and the carols start ringing in the streets. Yes, don’t be shocked, we do have a lot of people dressed in these cute little angels outfits and having the time of their lives singing together—I’ve done it myself. However, we don’t go to every single door for carol singing though because our streets are lined up with buildings and not houses. It would be literally impossible to go up every floor and each flat. For Christmas dinner, my family has the tradition of going to a Western restaurant or simply cooking at home while others may enjoy buffet or BBQ. We don’t really care what kind of dinner it is, as long as the food is delicious and we are huddled up with friends and family, it would be more than enough. So, turkey and Christmas pudding is entirely optional. If you cook a dinner full of un-festive foods, we’d dig in anyways.

Same as other countries, parents usually tell their kids not to open their presents until Boxing Day. When I was younger, I got all impatient because of this rule, but as I grew up, I learned to ignore it and now most people at my age enjoy the excitement of ripping open your gifts with their friends. My brother and I still argue over the gifts we receive not being fair, even though we’re secretly more than grateful to be able to get so many presents from friends and family. This year, my presents were already opened on the Winter Solstice since everyone was ripping open theirs in my class and I just couldn’t resist the temptation to do the same.

On December 31st, the last day of the year, you can still see all the Chrismas decorations still hanging high on the streets. No one is thinking that Christmas is over yet because the thrill of December 31st can easily be competition to Christmas Day. The famous bars in Lan Kwai Fong start getting packed with people at 9pm to prepare for the annual countdown. I’m pretty sure the last day of the year is when the most alcohol is consumed. Piled up crowds start forming in front of Times Square and the ferry pier too, eager to arrive early to get the best view of the grand timer. As for me, my family and I gather in front of the TV at home when the clock strikes at 11:50 pm, like most Hong Kongers who are too lazy to go out on the streets do. By the time the New Year arrives, the crowds’ applause and cheering sound throughout each and every flat that had their TV switched on, though my screams and squeals would probably cover even the slightest drop of sound coming from the TV. Mere seconds later, Whatsapp and Facebook new year messages will attack every single phone in Hong Kong, so everyone ends up texting each other even though it’s already way passed their bedtime.