wh at ’s o n h on g k on g
by
Lia Campiglio
B
orn in a small countryside town of Piemonte (Italy), Lia Campiglio then left home and moved to Venice to study Oriental languages (Mandarin) at Ca' Foscari University. After living and studying abroad in Barcelona
(Spain), Beijing and Nanjing (PRC), in 2012 she decided to leave her Country and work in a competitive market such as that of Hong Kong. She is currently working at the Italian Cultural Institute of Hong Kong. While organizing cultural events related to Italian culture, arts and lifestyle she enjoys exploring the wonders of South East Asia.
Around the world, public holidays are generally days of celebration, like the anniversary of a significant historical event or a religious celebration. Holidays can land on a specific day of the year or follow other calendar systems like the Lunar Calendar and fall on different dates each year. There are many public holidays celebrated in both Hong Kong and Italy… Which are the most famous ones? Which are their origins and traditions? From gifts and traditions, let’s have a look at the upcoming ones and enjoy these famous celebrations like locals do, wherever you are!
4 April - Qingming Festival (清明節)
combined as one.
The Qingming Festival or “Grave-Sweeping Day”, also referred
ritual cleaning of gravesites to show respect to a family’s ancestors.
The most visible activity revolves around tomb-sweeping: the
to as the “Pure Brightness Festival”, pays respect to ancestors
People visit their graves, refresh their tombstones, make offerings
and celebrates the warming weather of spring. It is a time for
of food, tea, or wine, burn incense and joss paper - offerings can
the families to come together and honor the past by visiting and
range from simple paper banknotes to elaborate paper crafts shaped
maintaining the burial sites of loved ones and ancestors with a spirit
like clothing, cars. Burning ceremonial joss paper is meant to care
of celebration that includes space for both reflection and renewal.
for ancestors in the afterlife and send them the luxuries they lacked
This festival is one of the two big annual festivals designated for the
while living. Once tomb sweeping is complete, families picnic and
dead - the other is the “Hungry Ghost Festival” in autumn.
spend the afternoon enjoying outdoor activities, like flying kites. People believe that this custom can bring good luck and eliminate
The holiday is celebrated 15 days after the spring equinox - either
diseases. Some people place willow branches on gates and front
4, 5, or 6 April in a given year - when things are meant to be clean
doors: this custom will ward off wandering evil spirits during the
(ching - 清) and bright (ming - 明)As the festival occurs and spring
festival.
blooms, it is generally considered an auspicious time.
The traditional festival food is sweet green rice balls (qingtuan - 青 團)- made of a mixture of glutinous rice powder and green vegetable
It is said that this festival was originally held to commemorate a
juice and stuffed with sweet bean paste -, but this is rarely observed
loyal man named Jie Zitui living in China during the Spring and
today. As the holiday focuses on honoring family ancestors, the
Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC) who cut a piece of meat from his
result is an emphasis on homestyle family favorites.
leg to save his hungry lord who was forced to go into exile. After coming back, the lord forgot Jie Zitui, who retired on a mountain
4 & 5 April - Pasqua and Pasquetta (lunedì dell’Angelo)
with his elderly mother. To find him, the lord ordered to set the mountain on fire; unfortunately, Jie Zitui and his mother were found dead. To commemorate him, the lord erected a temple and
Easter celebration or Pasqua symbolizes the death and resurrection
ordered that the day Jie died was Hanshi Festival (Cold Food), the
of Jesus Christ in the Christian religion. Historically, the Easter
day that only cold food could be eaten. The next year, when the
holiday was marked on each Sunday after the first full moon in the
lord went to the mountain to pay tribute to Jie, he found willows
spring equinox.
revived, so he gave instructions that the day after Hanshi Festival was to be the Qingming Festival. Later, the two festivals were
The Italian Easter begins on Good Friday and is celebrated all 32
