Fire Dragon Dances

 
Fire Dragon Dances Li Chen

The Mid-Autumn Festival is so much more than eating mooncakes and spotting rabbits on the moon! This year, we took a trip to Tai Hang and Pok Fu Lam, where they host the most spectacular fire dragon dances, to see the shows first-hand. The dances, which boast traditions that stretch back beyond a hundred years, are an integral part of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage and a definite must-see experience you should mark down in your calendar for the next year.

 

In both dances, the dragons are led down the street by two glowing ‘pearls.’ The pearls (pomelo with incense sticks stuck into it) are swished and swirled in a fast motion to resemble two balls of flashing fire. Once the dragons make their rounds, the performers throw the dragons into the sea, where they're sent off into the watery horizon in a glowing blaze of smoke and fire.

 

Tai Hang

The tradition first began in the late 19th century when the village was struck by a mysterious, deadly plague. A wise seer advised the people to build a mighty fire dragon fuelled by incense and to parade it non-stop around the village for three days and three nights. Afterwards, the plague miraculously disappeared.

 

Tai Hang is no longer the sleepy little fishing village it used to be, but the 67m-long dragon still dances for three nights to the thrilling beat of the drums every year. At the end of the third night, the dragon is thrown off just by the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter and is left to drift away into the sea.

 

Fun fact: it takes nearly 300 performers and 70,000 incense sticks to bring the dragon to life!

 

Share this album on: 
Previous Next Play Pause

 

Pok Fu Lam

The fire dragon dance occurs annually on the 15th day of the eighth month according to the lunar calendar (which falls around Sept - Oct). Each year, the villagers from Pok Fu Lam stick burning incense into the dragon’s straw body as they wish for good luck and fortune for the coming year. After paying their respects to the Li Ling Divine and the Earth Gods, a team of performers hoist the burning dragon onto their shoulders and dance around the village neighbourhood. The highlight of the dance is at the end, when the dragon is thrown off Waterfall Bay and released into the sea.

 

 

Share this album on: 
Previous Next Play Pause

 


 

Text by Soo Jin Kim, Photos by Li Chen