Best Things to Do in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year 2024

Things to Do in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year

1. Watch the Big International Chinese New Year’s Parade

Enormous, colorful, and glittery paper dragons take to the streets. Music pulses as the parade moves from the Avenue of Stars to Nathan Road, Salisbury Road, Canton Road, and Haiphong Road. Many performing groups and bands put on shows, and floats from different countries join the parade. The streets are decorated with flowers of every description, and people carry colorful lanterns with lit candles inside. The parade is fronted by Chinese monks who chant while beating the gong on bass drums. Chinese New Year in Hong Kong is a vibrant, colorful, noisy, and adrenalin-jerking event.

Date: February 9, 2024

Timing: 8 PM

2. Enjoy the Flower Markets

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Mainland China don’t include horse racing and luxurious shopping. They also omit flowers. In Hong Kong and Macau, people traditionally decorate their homes with flowers and even gift each other colorful and unique bouquets. The Chinese New Year’s Eve Flower Market sees a rush of people in the last week of the year. Cash-rich people opt for rare orchids and other flowers, while regular people are happy with jasmine, roses, and lilies. Hong Kong smells like a hothouse and looks stunning with all the flowers everywhere. Visit the flower markets at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and Fa Hui Park in Mong Kok. Enjoying the flower market is one of the best things to do in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year.

Date: Mid to late January, 2024

3. Don’t Miss The Victoria Harbor Fireworks!

The day after the parade, make your way to Victoria Harbor to watch the impressive fireworks display. Victoria Harbor blazes with fireworks, and the surrounding buildings literally dance with the reflected lights. Giant fireworks explode with a whiz and bang, setting the night skies ablaze with a superb display of choreographed pyrotechnics. The fireworks coincide with the daily record-setting Symphony of Lights, with its colorful building lights and laser light show. Together, the two shows make Hong Kong light up in unbelievable colors.

4. Shop Till You Drop

Thousands of people arrive from Mainland China to shop for imported products, electronics, and clothes during the festival, which they carry duty-free through customs. Malls stay open for extended hours throughout the week of the festivities. Hong Kong’s biggest mall, Harbour City, is along the parade route. iSquare Mall is a tall skyscraper full of goodies. The idea is that people are encouraged to shop while checking out the parade from various vantage points. Be sure to browse for bargains at the Temple Street Night Market and Fa Yuen Street.

5. Check Out The Horse Races On The Third Day!

Get to the Sha Tin Racecourse with thousands of fans and gamblers on the third days of the holidays. The Jockey Club features a program of traditional festivities at the grand opening show. Enjoy the lion dance, multiple cultural performances, and all sorts of entertainment. Professional jockeys will parade, and the crowd will go mad, cheering them. The race begins at 11 a.m. and goes on till 6 p.m.

6. Eat Lots of Good Food!

Chinese New Year is all about fireworks, races, shopping, and, mostly, fantastic food. Enjoy your share of savory and sweet puddings, lavish lunch and dinner buffets, and special dim sum breakfasts at some of the most wonderful street eateries in Hong Kong. Sink your teeth into turnip cakes, deep-fried sesame balls, dried oysters, and lettuce. These delightful foods and their significance in the New Year will enlighten you more about Chinese culture.

7. Attend the Night Parade

The annual Chinese New Year Night Parade will be held in Tsim Sha Tsui on Canton Road, Salisbury Road, and Nathan Road on the first evening of the Chinese New Year. Observe the fabulously decorated floats, enjoy lion and dragon dances, and smell the abundance of flowers. The event begins at 8 p.m., so get to the parade route well in advance.

8. Join The Che Kung Festival

Four Che Kung Festivals are held yearly; one of them falls on the second day of the first lunar month. People flock to the Che Kung Temple in Shatin, in the New Territories, to beat drums and ceremoniously turn the fan-bladed wheel of fortune for good luck. Be sure to buy yourself a wheel of fortune at the temple.

9. Make A Wish For The New Year

Travel north from the New Territories to Sha Tin to Tai Po and visit the Lam Tsuen Wishing Square. You’ll find here the famous Wishing Well, known for its ritual of throwing in coins and flowers and making wishes for the New Year, for life, happiness, and prosperity. Look down into the well, and you’ll see offerings of coins, small jewelry pieces, and other objects that hold meaning to the people who’ve made their wishes here. Make your wish for a fantastic New Year at the Chinese New Year Hong Kong 2024; wish well.

10. Receive Lai See (Red Packets Of Money) In Good Faith

The number ‘8’ represents prosperity in Chinese culture. Greet people on the New Year by saying ‘Kung Hey Fat Choy’, a wish for the New Year’s prosperity. You never know which generous soul might offer you a red packet loaded with money! These red packets, or Lai See, as they’re called, are given by family elders to younger members. You can offer Lai See and receive it according to traditional Chinese custom. If you receive it from an elder, just pray that there’s a lot of money in it!

Recently, Forbes listed Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year celebration as one of the world’s ten best festival extravaganzas. The list includes Germany’s Oktoberfest and Brazil’s Carnival as well. Even Lonely Planet lists the Hong Kong Chinese New Year as one of the world’s top events. The festival is a visual and olfactory treat that’s seldom seen anywhere. In fact, Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year celebrations are even better than those in Mainland China!