Hong Kong Marks Chung Yeung Festival With Hiking and Grave-Sweeping; Public Holiday Follows on Monday
HONG KONG — Sunday, October 18, is the Chung Yeung Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, when Hong Kong residents traditionally hike to high ground and sweep family graves. Trails such as the Peak, Lion Rock and Dragon's Back, and cemeteries across the territory, drew crowds through the day. Chung Yeung is a public holiday in Hong Kong, and because the festival falls on a Sunday this year, Monday, October 19, is observed as the day following the festival, a public holiday.
The Transport Department implemented special traffic and transport arrangements around cemeteries territory-wide. Roads near the Tsuen Wan Chinese Permanent Cemetery were closed or diverted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 18; the Frontier Closed Area section at Sandy Ridge was temporarily opened to grave-sweepers from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and road closures and special bus services were also in place around Wo Hop Shek, the Saint Raphael's Catholic Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan and cemeteries on Lantau Island. The department said police would implement traffic control and diversions on site depending on conditions.
The department had expected the heaviest grave-sweeping traffic on the festival day itself and the following public holiday, advising the public to plan ahead and use public transport. Arrangements at the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery, the strictest of the day, are covered in a separate report. (GSM, based on Hong Kong Transport Department notices)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 香港狮子山全景。Lion Rock, Hong Kong. Photo by Wpcpey, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
