Lunar New Year fairs blossom once again
Peach blossoms, gladioli and lucky bamboo are jostling for space with wind chimes, cuddly toys and hoodies as Hong Kong's Lunar New Year fairs return to their former glory now the city's pandemic days are behind it. In the past few years, visitors to the fairs were limited to buying flowers, but the 15 fairs across the city which opened on Sunday boast all manner of merchandise once again, while food stalls are also back, with favourites including dragon beard candy, sugar-laced flatbreads and tanghulu. The largest fair, at Victoria Park, has 377 stalls – more than double the number last year.   Helping to sell pencil bags, tote bags and red packets at one of the stalls was Spencer, a form 5 student at Queen's College. “It's a fresh experience for a lot of us but... this is actually one of our major traditions of Queen's College. Before the pandemic started, we always tried to sell the products here… We also want to preserve this tradition after the pandemic,” he said.  With the Year of the Dragon just days away, the park was filled with various incarnations of the legendary creature, including specially designed dragon toys and dragon cushions. Competition for business appeared intense, with stall holders getting creative to attract customers. One was giving away free energy drinks, while customers of another were offered free entry to Lan Kwai Fong nightclubs. “We are an event organiser so we are hosting events in Lan Kwai Fong. That's why we are giving out free entry tickets to our customers if they want. That's basically how we promote,” said Ana, who was working on the stall.  A woman surnamed Ng, who was at the fair with her family of five, bought a foil windmill for her four-year-old son. She said the windmill symbolises what will be “a smooth year” for the boy. Ng said the atmosphere of the fair was great and the crowd not too big, so she planned to go back again in the coming days. The fair was also attracting people from the mainland and further afield.  South African couple DJ and Annie said it was their first trip to the fair since moving to Hong Kong two years ago. “We come to Victoria Park often but we haven't been to the fair before, so it's interesting to see all the things there,” said DJ.  “It's great to see all the little children running around, amazing to see all the flowers. I just spoke to a guy and he said the flowers are from Hong Kong. I'm really impressed with that. It's very nice,” said Annie. However, the return of all the "dry goods" didn't please everyone – namely some of the florists. A woman surnamed Su said she didn't have anywhere to put her lilies.  “It is alright if you want us to stop putting flowers out, but you should tell us when bidding, we need to be mentally prepared. For example, if I knew there was not enough space, I could have bid for one more stall, but I don't know,” she said.  The fairs across the city will run until 7am on February 10.