China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Tuesday held lantern fairs to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, while a spectacular drone show illuminated the night sky above the Victoria Harbor.
The festival is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which fell on Sept 17 this year. It is a traditionally cherished occasion for family reunions, when family members share mooncakes and light lanterns.
A bright and gorgeous lantern fair combining elements of traditional Chinese culture and the unique style of Hong Kong was held on Tuesday night in Hong Kong's Victoria Park, where local residents and tourists can not only learn about the process of making a handcrafted lantern, but also participate in diversified activities like guessing lantern riddles.
During the festival, traditional folk activities including lantern fairs were held across Hong Kong, creating strong festive atmosphere and attracting flocks of residents and tourists.
"We have come to Victoria Park today to feel the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival. [The lanterns] are quite beautiful and gorgeous," said Liu, a local resident.
At around 20:00 on Tuesday, a splendid drone show illuminated the night sky above the Victoria Harbor, with more than 1,000 drones forming patterns of rabbits, lanterns and mooncakes, conveying festive blessings to people in Hong Kong.
"This year's lanterns are more beautiful than ever before. Meanwhile, the drone shows are getting more and more exciting each time, as we can see that the patterns and technologies are constantly improving. At the same time, the National Day is approaching. I would like to wish our country a happy birthday, and I wish the motherland prosperity and the people a better life," said Ko Chung Kit, another local resident.
Hong Kong holds lantern fairs, drone show to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
Consumption continued to heat up during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday from Friday to Sunday, as China's consumer goods trade-in programs have gained traction, and its diversified cultural offerings have stimulated new spending needs. At a car dealership in Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, consumers are keen to test drive a new energy vehicle with outstanding battery life as the province has beefed up its support for electric car purchase.
"The maximum subsidy for replacing a used car is 44,000 yuan (about 6,000 U.S. dollars), which is quite attractive to me," said a consumer surnamed Wan. In Shanghai, the Bingang shopping mall started trial operation during the holiday and provides citizens and tourists with a wide range of entertainment experiences by empowering more than a dozen performing arts and entertainment spaces of different sizes with high technology.
"We have introduced more than 20 different types of pan-entertainment experiences. We hope to create a destination for cultural entertainment-induced consumption by gathering different types of entertainment," said Wu Jiuying, marketing manager of the Shanghai Bingang shopping mall.
The Qingming Festival holiday has also given a boost to the domestic box office, with dozens of films released.
As of 21:00 on Sunday, China's total box office revenue for the three-day holiday had surpassed 377 million yuan (approximately 51.5 million U.S. dollars), according to data from online platforms.
The U.S. produced film "A Minecraft Movie", Chinese crime thriller "We Girls", animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2", crime drama "Mumu" and police action movie "Fox Hunt" are currently ranked as the top five.
April 4 marked this year's Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival for people to pay tribute to the deceased and to worship their ancestors. Increasing numbers of people nowadays also use the holiday as an occasion to make spring outing and enjoy leisure entertainment.
China sees strong spike in Qingming Festival spending
