Yuen Long Tin Hau Parade

Every year in late April or early May, Hong Kong celebrates the birthday of Tin Hau (媽祖), also known as the Queen of Heaven and Goddess of the Sea. Legend has it that over 100 years ago Tin Hau stood on the shore guiding fishing boats home, unperturbed by typhoons and storms.

Running Dragon

Nowadays she is celebrated as the protector of fishermen and sailors, with festivities held at Tin Hau temples all over Hong Kong. The most famous can be found in Yuen Long (元朗) town where a spectacular parade, consisting of teams from over 20 local villages and organisations, passes through the streets to the Tin Hau temple. This year it occurred on Easter Monday which is a holiday in Hong Kong so I went to check it out…

Performers, including lion dancers (舞獅), dragon dancers (舞龍), and other artists take part in a loud, colourful demonstration of traditional culture with thousands more lining the streets to watch and cheer. I shot the video above which hopefully gives you a good idea of the atmosphere.

Dragon Head

The dragon itself is a long serpent-shaped body on poles, assembled by joining the series of hoops on each section and attaching the ornamental head and tail pieces at the ends.

Dragon Bearers

Dragons can range in length from around 30 meters for the more acrobatic models, and up to 70 meters for the largest, parade and ceremonial styles, since part of the myth of the dragon is that the longer the creature, the more luck it will bring.

Dragon Concertina

Dragons come in many different types and colours; green symbolises a good harvest, yellow symbolises the solemn empire, golden or silver colours symbolise prosperity, and red represents excitement. Its scales and tail are mostly silver colours.

Long Lens Photographers

There were a lot of people with big expensive looking cameras running around trying to get the best shots which became a bit chaotic at times – I mostly stuck to the sidelines, not wanting to get hit by a stray dragon tail!

Posing Lion & Dragon

The correct combination and proper timing of the different parts of the dragon are very important to make a successful dance. The head of the dragon must be able to co-operate with the body in combination with the timing of the drum.

Spinning Dragon

The dragon moves in a wave-like pattern achieved by the coordinated swinging of each section in succession. The patterns and tricks that are performed generally involve running into spiralled formations to make the dragon body turn and twist on itself. This causes performers to jump over or through the dragon’s body sections, adding to the visual display.

Float Dragging

As well as dragons there were many floats carrying drummers and large banners or flags. Unlike carnival floats in the west, all of these were dragged along by hand which looked like a team sport in itself!

Parade Banners
Riot of Colour
Jousting Lions

I’d seen a few lion dances performed on poles in mainland China before but never at street level or in combination with other actors like the ‘Big Head Buddha’ (大头佛) above whose role seemed to be to taunt the lions.

Parade Street Cleaners

At the tail end of the procession teams of street cleaners followed to clear up the mess left by all the firecrackers and streamers.

Dragon Shelter

At various locations performers would stop and take a rest from all the exertions – here some kids sit in the shade beneath their long dragon. It’s nice to see the traditions being passed down through the generations.

Dragon Head
Painted Ladies

As well as animals there were people also dressed up in traditional costumes with heavy makeup.

Yuen Long Parade
Lion Whisperer

I can only imagine how hot it must get inside of those costumes on a sunny day and how hard it must be to hear anything! Within the parade were people pushing carts full of bottled water for the performers.

Getting in Costume

Being the tail end of a lion isn’t so glamorous!

Hairy Lions
Parade Float

Many Southeast Asian migrants who live in the new territories were also taking part.

Confetti
Dueling Dragons

One of the best moments happened when two dragons met at an intersection and started jousting – the crowd went wild as people surged forward to watch the duel.

Rampaging Dragons
Victory

I’m not sure if either dragon ‘won’ but it was a cool moment, save for the sea of cameras (mine included).

Some of the banners were enormous and took two or three people to carry/control – luckily it wasn’t a windy day.

Dragon Holding Pen
Street Parade

Barriers were set up along the streets for people to watch from – it was extremely crowded, with some even taking to the roofs of nearby buildings to get a better view.

Dragon Ambush

Another highlight near the end was a huge orange and golden dragon which careered down the street at a frightening pace.

Following the Leader

Each dragon had a leader who walked in front with a ball on a pole which he used to direct it (I’m not sure if there’s a technical name for this?).

Pink Banners
Avoiding Power Line

One hazard for the tall floats were low-hanging power lines – this group had to use a pole to untangle theirs before limbering underneath.

Push!

The walk to the temple takes over two hours in total and everyone looked exhausted towards the end.

Roast Pig

Just as I was leaving I noticed some people carrying a full roast pig on a small card, presumably as an offering – looked tasty!

Road Dragon

This is definitely one event I’ll be marking on my calendar for next year – not to be missed if you’re in Hong Kong.

David avatar

3 responses

  1. Fascinating stuff! I recently attended the pilgrimage for 媽祖, though she’s known as Mazu here in Taiwan. Here is my entry for the same event:

    http://joshintaiwan.com/2011/04/11/goddess-of-the-sea/

    Also, a birthday celebration in Taichug: http://joshintaiwan.com/2011/04/14/festival-at-dajia-mazu-temple-taichung/

    The dragons are interesting – I didn’t see any during the celebrations here, though I did see walking gods and dancing “San Tai Zi” (三太子) figures.

    1. Thanks Joshua – fascinating to see the same events happening all over Asia. Despite their differences the roots of culture and tradition run deep through history.

  2. Dave avatar
    Dave

    I’m coming to HK at the time of Tin Hau and would like to go to Yuen Long to watch.

    Which streets are used for the procession and where is a good place to watch from.

    Thank you

    Dave.

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