As the Lunar New Year draws near, Kenneth Mo Cheuk-kei has been hard at work in his lantern workshop in Yuen Long. He builds and decorates two kinds of lanterns: one to symbolise a blessing and prosperity for families, and the other to celebrate the birth of any new boys in the past year. According to tradition, the new lantern for prosperity replaces last year's lantern during a ritual in an ancestral hall
LEFT A 'firework' lantern, symbolising a blessing and prosperity, from last year will be replaced in a ritual on the 15th day of the new year.
TOP LEFT Some of the tools used in crafting the lanterns.
TOP RIGHT Mr Mo hand-ties every bamboo stick to make sure the frame is secure.
ABOVE He puts the finishing touches to one of this year's firework lanterns. Now 36, Mr Mo began learning how to make these traditional lanterns at the age of 19. Kenneth Mo, in his workshop in Kung Um Road, adds paper to the bamboo skeleton of a lantern to celebrate boys' births for a Tang clan in a local village. On the 12th day of the new year, the lantern is lit and then burnt to ashes to mark the end of the ritual.
