Scenes from Piggish Hong Kong Lunar New Year Fairs at Victoria Park and Fa Hui Park

As in the past, Hong Kong recently held Lunar New Year Fairs in 15 locations for a period of seven days. Five years ago I shared a number of scenes from the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair and the Fa Hui Park Lunar New Year Fair in Hong Kong. This year I had the chance to visit both again. Below is a set of photos capturing a variety of scenes from the two fairs. I visited Victoria Park Saturday evening and Fai Hui Park Sunday afternoon just before the Lunar Near Year. In general, the fairs were much as they were five years ago with the exception that were many more pig-themed items for sale — not surprising since it is now Year of the Pig. Like before, the photos capture a variety of stalls and the large crowds. And of course there a few scenes from their respective flower markets. One thing is deliberately missing though. The politically themed stalls at Victoria Park, which I featured five years ago, will appear in a later post.

Fa Hui Park Lunar New Year Fair

One of the entrances to the fair

A dense crowd

Basketball is off limits

Pigs and more

Giant stuffed ancient coins

More pigs

One of the locations to get some fair food

Ah Tak - the green “keep clean ambassador” for Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Some of the many flowers for sale

Not all flowers found a home in time

Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair

Simply making one's way from one side of the aisle to the other through the very dense crowd proved quite challenging.

Yes, pigs

Some Hong Kong pride

Bubbles abounded

Slower than a crawling pace

Shirts with messages of some sort

Putting ladders to use to sell pigs

One last pig-themed stall

The trash overflowed

Non-trashy and unwilted colors

These flowers sold shortly after I took the photo

And that's all for now. For Lunar New Year Fair photos taken in other locations, last year I visited the Taipei Lunar New Year Festival at Dihua Street and Macau's Lunar New Year Festival at Tap Seac Square.

Holiday Coke & Mahjong in Jiangmen

Things are still slow in these parts, thanks to the lunar new year holiday. But life progresses nonetheless. Some mahjong even happened today in Jiangmen, Guangdong.

A Watching Bird in Mong Kok

Having another pair of eyes is often useful . . .

At the Fa Yuen Street Market in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Another Lunar New Year, Another Night of Lights

A belated sharing of a photo taken in Jiangmen, Guangdong, during the night of the Lunar New Year's first day:

Not long after I took the above photo, relevant authorities stopped the riverside festivities. I soon left, but I'd bet some fun later returned.

Happy New Year and all, folks.

Another Lunar New Year, Another Prosperity Burger

On Saturday in Hong Kong before the big holiday, I was hoping for some traditional fare. Fortunately, I came across a perfect option: the Lunar New Year Prosperity Beef Burger at McDonald's.

The burger seemed to have been overloaded with sauce. Normally with fast food I would not be happy about finding a burger in such a state. But this isn't normal. This is a Prosperity Burger. There is no such thing as too much of that black peppery sauce. They could have dunked the entire buns into the sauce, and I'd be fine. OK, I am actually happy they didn't do that. At the very least, I really don't need even more sodium in the burger.

I was quite happy to continue an edacious tradition that has included me enjoying the glorious burger last year in Taipei and the year before in Macau. The burger is typically available in a number of Asian markets around the Lunar New Year holiday, though oddly enough it isn't available in mainland China where McDonald's offers other holiday burgers that change from year to year. I had thought I would miss out on the Prosperity Burger this year, but for other reasons life ended up bringing me to Hong Kong just in time.

The curly fries were bonus.

A Bit of High Weight in Hong Kong

A Lot of Low Weight in Zhongshan

A Singing Tree in Zhongshan

A type of musical performance I especially appreciate at a park . . .

At the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park in Zhongshan, China

Wearing the Huglife in Zhongshan

So many ways to live your life . . .

BlackBusters Brings Their Music to Zhongshan

Today I noticed that tomorrow night in Zhongshan, Guangdong, will be different from other nights because BlackBusters will perform at Vivi Plus.

According to an article on Modern Ghana:

African music has seen a rebirth in the last decade that has opened it up on the world stage like never before. Exploring that growth even further is the China-based duo, Blackbusters comprising MC Rhymes-Apple and DJ St3v3.

Rhymes-Apple originally hails from Ghana while DJ St3v3, also known as Estifanos comes from Ethiopia. Blackbusters first gained popularity in the middle of 2015, after founding and hosting a night party at Playhouse Night Club, one of Asia’s most famous nightclubs. . . .

Rhymes-Apple Ofori-Atta better known by his stage name as MC Rhymes-Apple holds a Bachelors degree in Arts and double masters degrees in Entertainment Management and International Trade. He started recording his own music in 2003 during his high school days then released a mix tape in 2010 titled ”Fruity Juicy”. . . .

DJ St3v3 is a well-spoken and articulate professional Disc Jockey. He has the experience in working on Radio, clubs and music festivals. He started to have a passion for music a early as age 13. Steve has established himself as one of the fastest-growing young DJs and producers for electronic dance music.

The article appears in many online locations and much of the content can be found on the BlackBusters website as well, where you can also experience some of their performances.

According to the apparent BlackBusters Instagram account, they have performed in a variety of cities across China such as Wuxi, Taiyuan, Kunming, and Guangzhou. In an online video they speak about the challenges of their frequent travel and also about how they got together:

And I now see that this Saturday won't be as unique as I had first guessed. BlackBusters has performed in Zhongshan before. I won't be able to report on their upcoming engagement, but hopefully everybody has a grand time.

A Place for Fish Skin Dumplings Five Years Ago

This evening I had the grand idea of "I'll post a photo I took five years ago". In terms of a specific city, I couldn't remember where I had been.

After some searching, I discovered that on January 23, 2014, I was in Hong Kong. While I have been to Hong Kong many times, I still found it remarkable since tomorrow I may be heading back there yet again.

Regardless of what I do tomorrow, today's post is about today and, more so, the today I experienced five years ago. I can see I had a particularly interesting day in Hong Kong, even though most of what I captured is from just the late afternoon and early evening. I can remember visiting the Kowloon Walled City Park and Little Thailand that day. A post about either of them would require more effort than I can manage right now, so I'll post a photo I took of the place where I had lunch.

When I first saw the photo I not only suspected that the restaurant was in Mong Kok, but it looked like the sort of place I would be tempted to order (hopefully) wonderful fish skin dumpling noodle soup. Fortunately, I discovered I had documented the moment and both details were correct. I had shared the photo with friends in part because the restaurant had a rather typical Hong Kong ambience.

I can't say for sure whether I will visit this same place, but if I'm back in Hong Kong soon then more fish skin dumplings will be happening.

A Brief Visit to Changjiang Village in Zhongshan, China

After soaking in the view at the Changjiang Reservoir or frolicking at the Changjiang Water World in Zhongshan, China, perhaps life will bring you to Changjiang Village. There you could visit the village's small cultural park.

Perhaps afterward you would choose to grab a bit to eat at the Anju Restaurant.

Once full, a short walk would bring you to a place for relaxing and drinking — The Hang.

All of these sites could conveniently be found alongside a single road cutting through the village.

It doesn't take long to travel the entire length of Aochang Road.

You may experience some confusion, though, because one of the bus stops in the village suggests the area's name is Zhongxin Village.

You could spend much time trying to sort out the discrepancy. And you might conclude that most evidence, especially from various online maps and addresses, indicates that Changjiang Village is the correct name. You could also find evidence suggesting Zhongxin was possibly an earlier name for the village and now applies to a nearby area. Perhaps the villagers could have clarified things for you. But you didn't ask while you were there, because you didn't yet have this question.

One thing is simple though. Only the 006 bus stops in this quiet, and probably often overlooked, village not far from a large reservoir and water park.