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Kylie Knott

The Lunar New Year is the most important festival on the Chinese calendar, with people across Asia and in Asian diaspora communities around the world gathering to celebrate.
Also known as the Spring Festival, the celebration is steeped in rich traditions, from the giving of red packets (lai see) to lion dances and lots of food.
It’s also a time for family reunions, prompting a travel rush that constitutes the planet’s largest annual migration, as millions of people head back to visit their home villages and cities.
For those staying in Hong Kong, the city has organised a variety of events to ring in the Year of the Dragon. Here are some of them.
1. Audience with a dragon
What better way to start the Year of the Dragon year than seeing one up close?
Well, sort of. Water monitor lizards are known as “five-clawed golden dragons” and this month one of them is the star attraction at Kadoorie Farm Botanical Garden (KFBG), in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district.
On February 12 and 13, KFBG will allow visitors an audience with Aberdeen, the reptile that has been a KFBG ambassador for eight years after being rescued from the illegal pet trade.

While at KFBG, visitors can also get a glimpse of the Chinese New Year Flower tree (enkianthus quinqueflorus) - a protected species in Hong Kong - which was given its English name thanks to its blooming period coinciding with the Lunar New Year.
Its bell-shaped flowers hang at the tips of branches, while the tree symbolises academic success and lots of offspring.
In the past, people cut the branches to use as festive decoration, but overharvesting prompted the government to enact regulations in the early 20th century that prohibited the picking or cutting of the species to ensure its preservation.
2. Wishing tree festival
A visit to the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree in Tai Po is one of Hong Kong’s oldest new year traditions.
Just write your wish on joss paper or a placard, tie it to a mandarin, and throw it onto the wishing tree’s branches. The higher it hangs, the higher the chance of your wish coming true.












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Lotus lanterns and other decorative lanterns and illustrations will brighten up the square, while a night market at Lam Tsuen will run until February 13.
3. High-altitude good luck
In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolises prosperity and good luck, making the Year of the Dragon extra special.
In Hong Kong, the Sky100 Observation Deck at the ICC, the city’s tallest building, is helping people boost their luck by inviting a feng shui fortune teller to lead guided tours of the 100th floor and share some lucky tips.

Master Qi Xian Yu will give her advice on finding success in work, excelling in education and even getting lucky in love.
4. Lee Tung Avenue
This 200-metre (656-foot) tree-lined pedestrian walkway in Wan Chai is known for its colourful festival celebrations, and this year is no exception.
Goldfish-shaped lanterns will be among a sea of those hanging above the walkway, while an eight-metre-long golden dragon installation at the Central Piazza will be a highlight.

The Dragon & Lion Dance Spectacular will return on February 20 - don’t miss the traditional golden dragon, which measures over 25 metres, accompanied by five colourful lions.
A Chinese New Year Parade held with the Hong Kong Tourism Board will take place on February 12, featuring two international performing groups: the “Golden Dream” from Spain, and the “Universe of Lights”, an eight-member stilt-walking team from Germany.
5. Lantern feast for Lunar New Year
It wouldn’t be Lunar New Year without loads of lanterns and one of the best places to see them light up is at the city’s lantern carnivals, held at various venues citywide.
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the best places to enjoy them, with a highlight being a dragon made by paper-crafting master Chan Yiu-wah. The lanterns will light up daily from 6pm-11pm until February 25.

Carnivals - think music and dance - will be held from February 20-25 at the piazza, as well as at the Hong Kong Velodrome Park, Tin Shui Wai Park, and Ginza Square.


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What to do in Hong Kong

5 fun things to do in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year, from meeting a real ‘dragon’ to night markets and high-altitude luck-boosting

The Dragon & Lion Dance Spectacular at Lee Tung Avenue on February 20 is one of many fun things to do in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year to usher in the Year of the Dragon. Photo: Lee Tung Avenue

Water monitor lizard Aberdeen at Kadoorie Farm Botanical Garden. Photo: KFBG

Master Qi Xian Yu will lead guided tours of the ICC’s Sky100 Observation Deck and give her good luck tips for the Year of the Dragon. Photo: Sky100 Observation Deck

An eight-member stilt-walking team from Germany, known as the “Universe of Lights”, will perform at Lee Tung Avenue on February 12. Photo: Lee Tung Avenue

A dragon created by paper-crafting master Chan Yiu-wah at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza. Photo: LCSD 

Year of the Dragon 2024 - a complete guide: from zodiac predictions and traditions to what to wear and lucky foods, 10 essential reads to see you through Lunar New Year

A dragon-shaped art installation in Yichang, Hubei Province, China. Photo: Getty Images

To ensure good luck in the year to come, wear red clothing that’s new at Chinese New Year, like this family. Photo: Shutterstock

Wearing red underwear is one way people can bring themselves good luck in the Year of the Dragon 2024 - especially if their Chinese zodiac animal faces predictions of bad luck. Photo: AFP

Traditionally, people would not wash their hair during the first two days of the Lunar New Year because they believed it would wash away their prosperity for the coming year. Photo: Shutterstock

Craftsmen make dragon-shaped lanterns for a Lunar New Year lantern fair in Shenyang, China. Photo: Getty Images. Photo: Getty Images

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

From “happy new year” to “may you be prosperous” to “wishing you good health”, there are many traditional greetings to say to people during Chinese New Year. Photo: Shutterstock

The rear entrance of the Standard Chartered Bank Building, in Central, was daubed with red paint in 2005, allegedly by debt collectors chasing payment from an employee of the bank. Photo: SCMP

Lunar New Year pudding cakes. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Worshippers offer incense at Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong on Lunar New Year’s Eve in 2019. Photo: Edmond So

Year of the Dragon 2024: predictions, personalities and the wood element’s meaning for the next Lunar New Year

Craftsmen make dragon-shaped lanterns for a Lunar New Year lantern fair in Shenyang, China. Photo: Getty Images

A customer buys dragon-themed new-year decorations at Yiwu International Trade City in Jinhua, China, on December 11, 2023. Photo: Getty Images

The Beatles wave to a crowd at an airport as they arrive in the US for concerts and television appearances in 1964. Photo: Getty Images

What Chinese animal am I? Characteristics of the Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger and Rabbit and when their years fall

Animals of the Chinese zodiac. Illustration: Shutterstock


Up next in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is one of 12 animal signs denoting the years in the Chinese calendrical cycle. The traits of each animal are believed to be reflected in the people born under their signs. Dragons are gifted, lucky, confident, intelligent and charismatic. Photo: Shutterstock

Bronze horse statues at a shrine in Taiwan. Those born in the year of the horse are said to be magnets for attention. Photo: Shutterstock

Sculptures of goats, part of a display of sculptures of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals at a scenic area in China. Photo: Shutterstock

A lantern in the shape of a rooster on display during Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia, in February 2016 to herald the Year of the Rooster. Photo: Shutterstock

The rabbit is the luckiest Chinese zodiac animal of them all. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

For those staying in Hong Kong to usher in the Year of the Dragon, here are some fun things to do around the city to celebrate the Lunar New Year
Meet a ‘five-clawed golden dragon’ at Kadoorie Farm Botanical Garden, make a wish at the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree, watch dragons dance in Wan Chai and more


From meeting a real ‘dragon’ to night markets and high-altitude luck-boosting, here are some fun things to do in Hong Kong to celebrate the Lunar New Year and usher in the Year of the Dragon.


Hong Kong culture

Lunar New Year

Chinese culture

Hong Kong