Thursday, July 19, 2007

#5: Public Holidays

With a whopping 17 days in all, Hong Kong has more public holidays than any other country in the world. And with the ridiculous amount of time people in HK spend at work, they certainly deserve a little time off. While it's great to have lots of days off, the real treat is that many of these public holidays include plenty of fun festivities throughout the city.

Here are some of the highlights:

Mid Autum Festival

"Moon Cakes" are eaten during this festival--the egg yolk in the center symbolizes the moon.

Chinese New Year

Red Lanterns cover the city during Chinese New Year


Dragon Boat Festival

Teams from all over the world compete all day in these long "dragon boats"--I think up to 26 people fit in each boat!


10th Anniversary of the Handover of HK to China

The amazing fireworks show as viewed from the top of Matt's office building. (Yes, the fireworks are being shot off the TOP of the buildings near the harbor!)


Many people use the public holidays as a great time to vacate the city and seek calmer abodes, but Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed each holiday and were excited to stay in Hong Kong and enjoy each one as it came along. We sure are gonna miss all these fun holidays!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have no idea who you all are, but I thought I would tell you that your blog is the highlight of my internet surfing before work. I look at this everyday.

keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I was going to make a comment about how cool Hong Kong is for having so many holidays, but instead I would like to comment on how cool it is that someone YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW starts all of his or her days by reading your blog. Who knew?! I can't blame them, though...I was hooked on crabby rangoon from the very beginning.

The Tilted Tulip said...

jrb-

Thanks for being such a loyal reader! I'll try to keep things lively as we transition to San Diego. I do have to relearn how to drive afterall -- it could prove to be blog-worthy. Thanks again!

The Tilted Tulip said...

jane-

thanks to you, too! so many times I feel lazy and don't want to blog, but then I think of you and know I must persevere.

kjl said...

I'm with Jane--I'm so impressed that you have a loyal reader who doesn't even know you! I'm lucky if my real friends even read my blog loyally! :)

Anonymous said...

Hong Kongers work worse than Americans. Too bad they sent Matt on business trips during their holidays...