The Hong Kong Photo Contest 2024, organised by National Geographic, is open for entries for photos taken in Hong Kong before 3 December 2024.
This year’s six categories: City; Wildlife; Landscape; People; Mobile and Sports.
Winners will be chosen in March 2025, with the winner’s photograph in each category being published in National Geographic magazine (Traditional Chinese edition).
Submission guidelines can be found here
Halloween starts early this year with a 3D light show projected onto the domed roof of the Hong Kong Space Museum on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. The show runs from 20:15-22:30 daily until 31 October.
Characters include a hungry pumpkin enjoying local delicacies, a funky ghost DJ playing music through the 1night, a friendly pineapple bun inviting passers-by to pose for selfies, a romantic galactic spirit exploring Hong Kong on an iconic tram, and a party-loving bat toasting the Halloween season.
Also look out for the Halloween tram…
Halloween 3D Celestial Projection Show
Date: 18-31 October, 2024
Venue: Hong Kong Space Museum
Tickets: Free
image: HK Tourism
They were not the brave who volunteered their lives. Or members of a distant generation. They were young men on a trip with their mates playing the game they love.
They could have been you.
They could have been me.
And WE could have been them.
The evening sky over Victoria Harbour became a canvas as 1,500 drones paid tribute to Chinese painter Xu Beihong recreating his paintings as Galloping Horses in the Sky.
Organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) the cover image is Xu’s most renowned work, “Galloping Horses”. It shows six horses charging forward in unison with unstoppable momentum.
Xu’s Galloping Horse created in 1942, the magnificent stallion embodies boundless power.
Based on Xu’s 1934 work “Vigorous with New Life”, the roaring lion leaps in hope, reflecting HongKongers “Lion Rock Spirit”.
Xu’s “Chinese Redbud”, an illuminated bauhinia blossom signifies Hong Kong’s vibrant and colourful nature.
Galloping Horses in the Sky – National Day Drone Show
Date: 8pm, 28 September, 2024
Venue: Victoria Harbour
Tickets: Free
image: HK Tourism
Anniversary of pro-democracy demonstration takes place in city where protest has been largely criminalised and activists silenced
Today Hong Kong’s streets are quiet. Protest has been largely criminalised, and many of the leaders of the Umbrella movement have been exiled, jailed or otherwise silenced.
Looking back, Wendy* remembers the feeling of that first day of Occupy. She was 25 and believed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, and its promise to deliver universal suffrage to the people now that the territory had been returned from British to Chinese control. But instead, China’s government announced that in elections people would only be able to choose from a few candidates handpicked by a mostly pro-Beijing committee.
“It seemed that the government wanted to break their promise,” Wendy tells the Guardian from Hong Kong. “So I went out.”…
Read the full article on The Guardian website
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the streets of Tai Hang resonate with the vibrant sounds of gongs and drums. And the intense smell of incense heralds the arrival of the century-old fire dragon as it dances for good fortune.
The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance is staged for three consecutive nights (16 to 18 September) on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival to bring good fortune to the neighbourhood and its residents.
The 220-foot dragon is handcrafted each year by the Tai Hang Residents’ Welfare Association, a process that takes around two months. The head and tail sections are constructed of rattan, and the body of thick rope with the dragon’s body then wrapped in chamber bitter leaves.
The dragon’s body is pierced with incense sticks ahead of the consecration ceremony which takes place the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, at the Lin Fa Kung Temple. After the dragon’s eyes are painted on, the fire dragon is alive.
This year the traditional joss sticks have been replaced with 10,000 LED
bulbs and the route extended so more people can enjoy the dance up-close.
images: HK Tourism
A festive Dragon Boat drone show organised by Hong Kong Tourism Board to celebrate the Tuen Ng festival attracted the crowds to the harbourfront last night.
A fleet of 1,000 illuminated drones used the sky as their canvas and painted drums, dragon boat races, and other topical images, showcasing Hong Kong’s traditions.
There’s another drone show on Saturday 15 June, the first day of the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races.
Click on any image for the full gallery
Tuen Ng Festival Drone Show
Date: 8pm, 10 June, 2024
Venue: Victoria Harbour
Tickets: Free
image: HK Tourism
Today we remember those who died in and around Tian’anmen Square in 1989.
We take time to light a candle in their memory! Not to make a political statement but because honouring and remembering those who have died is an important and integral part of Hong Kong, Chinese and yes English culture.
That some would threaten violence towards those who wish to remember the dead says far more about them than us… What next, will Ching Ming Festival be banned as well?
