Chinese New Year in Hong Kong 農歷新年 (Feb 2005)

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Chinese New Year is also called Lunar New Year.

I am not very sure if "lunar" has anything to do with the moon, but I suspect it does. Lunar New Year in Chinese is 農歷新年 (Nong2 Li4 Xin1 Nian2 in Pinyin) which literally means Farming Calendar New Year.

In Hong Kong, more than 10 flower markets are setup every year for the week before the Chinese New Year.

I went to the biggest of the flower markets in Victoria Park on the New Year's Eve. And on the New Year's Day, I went to the evening parade.

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The Chinese New Year flower market has hundreds of stalls under the bamboo structure.

Few weeks before the market opens, the government held public auctions of the stall spaces. The price of the auction is a leading indicator of the years economic climate.

About half of the stalls are selling the more traditional flowers and tangerines.

The other half are selling more modern and fashionable items. This year we also see political parties fund raising in the market.

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The sellers of traditional flowers are mainly local farmers who come to the market every year. They usually bid for the same spot so previous customers can find them again in the vicinity.

Some of them actually sleeps in the 2nd or 3rd floor of their bamboo stalls during the market period.

I bought my peach blossom from the guys in the first picture.

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One of the most popular traditional flowers is Narsici or Daffodils (水仙).

They are small so most people can find space for them in their apartment, they are easy to take care of only needing water, and they give very refreshing yet subtle aroma.

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These pictures were taken the day before Chinese New Year.

This year the weather is warmer then usual and the flowers are in full bloom already.

Usually people like to buy flowers that are ready to but not yet in full bloom, so the flowers have longer life at home.

It may look very nice here in the pictures, but these flowers are less desirable to potential buyers.

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Potential customers.

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Peach Blossom (桃花) is also traditionally one of the most popular Lunar New Year flowers.

I think it is less popular now because it takes up larger space.

The peach blossoms in the first picture is probably two years old. The flowers would blossom for about 10 days. It's quite an art to control the growth such that the flowers will bloom only in the new year.

The peach blossom I bought this year was very nice - has thousands of flowers blossom during the new year period. See later pages for pictures.

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There are two types of tangerines that are popular for Chinese New Year. The type with elongated fruit is called Gan Tangerine (柑橘). The type with flat fruit pictured here is Four Seasons Tangerine (四季橘).

Unlike other Chinese New Year flowers that are kept in water, these tangerines are planted in soil.

About one week before the Chinese New Year, Hong Kong discovered its first invasion of the red fire ants. The public was wary about fruits that came with a pot of soil.

In the stall where I bought my peach blossom, the seller said they only able sell 10% of their stocks of tangerines.

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In my memory, orchid is a relatively new "New Year" flower.

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Definitly new species in the Chinese New Year flower market.

I don't even know the name of the fruit in the first picture. I think it's for display only and not for eating.

The pastel chrysanthemums in the second picture are probably artificially colored.