Hong Kong Families Honour Ancestors With Chung Yeung Rites Despite Rising Costs

Flowers, roast pork and paper ingots: families keep Chung Yeung traditions alive

Hong Kong families paid tribute to their ancestors on the final day of the Chung Yeung Festival long weekend, continuing the observance despite pricier offerings.

The rituals ranged from full traditional rites to a simple bunch of flowers, while the traditions also included roast pork and paper ingots. The range of observances showed how families marked the festival through both elaborate and simpler practices.

The public holiday also brought people to transport services serving cemetery visitors. More than a dozen people queued outside Chai Wan MTR station on Monday morning for the special tomb-sweeping bus to Cape Collinson Chinese Permanent Cemetery.

Citybus staff at the station said the service had been busier the previous day. Each bus was running every 20 minutes and was full, carrying more than 80 seated passengers, according to the staff.

The queue and the reported demand for buses underscored the practical arrangements involved in reaching the cemetery during the festival. Families continued to observe Chung Yeung through traditional rites, flowers and offerings even as the cost of those offerings rose.

Source: South China Morning Post