In a shower of sparks, fire dragon rises again to protect Tai Hang from the plague

The fire dragon of Tai Hang rose refreshed again on the eve of the moon festival yesterday, brightening up the tranquil Causeway Bay neighbourhood and wrapping it in a cheerful carnival mood.

Waves of revellers and fun seekers streamed into Tai Hang in the evening to watch the annual ritual of the fire dragon dance, which saw a 67-metre-long fire dragon emblazoned with thousands of burning sticks of incense take to the streets.

The air over Tai Hang was thick with the billowing white incense smoke, as more than 100 young bearers took turns carrying the fire dragon, threading through the narrow streets to bring good luck to residents. Bursts of light from camera flashguns and cheers from revellers pierced the smoke as the fire dragon twisted back and forth along the narrow streets.

Among the crowd was keen photographer Tommy Kwok, 24, who had arrived an hour early to jostle for a better position to take pictures of the fire dragon. "It is my first time to watch the fire dragon dance. I think it is really cool and is going to be a memorable event," said a delighted Kwok.

The legend of the fire dragon can be traced back almost 130 years to when Tai Hang was a village whose inhabitants lived on farming and fishing. A plague hit the villagers, and the only way to get rid of it was to keep a fire dragon dancing for three days and nights during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Villagers did so and the plague disappeared.

Earlier this week, the government declared the dance was among four local traditions it would recommend to the Ministry of Culture for the status of national intangible cultural heritage. The fire dragon dance is one of the many highlights of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. This year, it falls today. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a major event for Chinese, celebrated by compatriots all over the world. The Chinese traditionally observe the festival with their families, serving mooncakes and lighting lanterns.

The Observatory says the moon will be at its fullest at 11.38pm tonight. Today's forecast is for dry and fine weather with one or two light rain patches, then clearing skies at night.

"Early birds" who went to Victoria Park last night to see the moon were not let down.

Chan Kwong-chiu, 50, who went with his wife, said: "We come to the park to watch the moon every year. We like the beautifully decorated lanterns on display here."

A Mid-Autumn lantern carnival will be held in Victoria Park tonight. The three-hour show features Chinese traditional stage arts, puppetry, a lantern quiz and fortune-telling. Performing troupes from Yunnan and Hebei will perform songs, dances and acrobatics.

There are also lantern exhibitions to promote the East Asian Games at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre piazza from now until November 1. Another lantern exhibition is planned for the West Kowloon waterfront promenade today and tomorrow.

SCMP.  Oct. 3, 2009.