An expatriate purchases a miniature tangerine tree for Lunar New Year at the Flower Market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, in 1996. This and giving lai see is still the extent of many foreigners’ involvement in the festival. Photo: SCMP
An expatriate purchases a miniature tangerine tree for Lunar New Year at the Flower Market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, in 1996. This and giving lai see is still the extent of many foreigners’ involvement in the festival. Photo: SCMP
Jason Wordie
Opinion

Opinion

Then & Now by Jason Wordie

Lunar New Year for foreigners in Hong Kong: lai see headaches and gripes about pricey haircuts

  • For many resident foreigners not directly caught up in festivities, the holiday season in the city used to be something to be endured rather than celebrated
  • In some respects little has changed: earnest discussions still go on today about how much lai see to give the virtual strangers who ease their daily existence

Jason Wordie
Jason Wordie

Updated: 4:45am, 24 Jan, 2022

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An expatriate purchases a miniature tangerine tree for Lunar New Year at the Flower Market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, in 1996. This and giving lai see is still the extent of many foreigners’ involvement in the festival. Photo: SCMP
An expatriate purchases a miniature tangerine tree for Lunar New Year at the Flower Market in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, in 1996. This and giving lai see is still the extent of many foreigners’ involvement in the festival. Photo: SCMP
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