喬寶寶祝你: 蚱蜢與財神龍年吉祥
龙年快乐！
ड्रैगन की मुबारक वर्ष
Happy New Year of the Dragon

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喬寶寶 

2010 Wan Chai Festival opening ceremony

Themed “Love and harmony – the Power of Family”, the 2010 Wan Chai Festival will offer numerous activities for the public from now until December.

A grand opening ceremony including a parade, variety show and game booths will be held at Happy Valley Racecourse (the Forecourt) from 1pm to 5.30pm on September 25. Below are the highlights of the programme:

Car parade
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Vintage cars, Harley motor-bikes and open-deck buses will set off from Southorn Playground at about 2pm, via Johnston Road, Hennessy Road, Percival Street, Leighton Road and Wong Nai Chung Road, and arrive at Happy Valley Racecourse at about 3pm.

Game booths
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District organisations will set up 26 game booths under the theme “Love and harmony – the Power of Family” at Happy Valley Racecourse for public participation. Free game tickets will be distributed from now on a first-come-first-served basis while stocks last. Each person is allowed to collect two tickets either from the Public Enquiry Service Centre of the Wan Chai District Office (address: G/F, 2 Obrien Road, Wan Chai) or at the Happy Valley Racecourse on the day of the function.

Parade by district organisations
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Hundreds of representatives from various district organisations, including a national costumes parade team, uniformed groups, lion dance troupes, kung fu teams and dance troupes, together with the Police Silver Band and artistic cycling team, will parade and perform round the racecourse.

Variety show

A variety show by famous singers and district organisations will be staged at the Forecourt

 The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivities in China, According to Chinese lunar calendar, the 15th day of the 8th month is the exact midst of autumn, so it's called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is an evening celebration when families gather together to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the round moon. On that night, the moon appears to be at its roundest and brightest. The full moon is a symbol for family reunion, which is why that day is also known as the Festival of Reunion.

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations date back to more than 2,000 years ago. In feudal times, Chinese emperors prayed to Heaven for a prosperous year. They chose the morning of the 15th day of the second lunar month to worship the sun and the night of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to hold a ceremony in praise of the moon. In the western district of Beijing is the Yuetan Park, which originally was the Temple of Moon, and every year the emperor would go there to offer a sacrifice to the moon.

This ancient custom became prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that people enjoyed and worshipped the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), however, people sent round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it turned dark, they gazed up at the full silver moon or went sightseeing by lakes, to celebrate the festival.

Since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration has become unprecedentedly popular. Together with the celebration appeared some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances, etc. Whenever the festival sets in, people would look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life, or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home and extending all of their best wishes to them.

In mid-autumn, farmers have just finished gathering their crops and bringing in fruits from the orchards. They are overwhelmed with joy when they have a bumper harvest and at the same time, they feel quite relaxed after a year of hard work. So the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (the Mid-Autumn Festival) has gradually evolved as a widely celebrated festival for ordinary people.