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Alexander Mak

Lunar New Year begins with an almost instinctive search for auspicious signs. Here is a look back at traditional festive customs meant to secure a lucky start for the year ahead – many of which continue to shape the city’s celebrations.
Temple visits
Worshippers head to Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon, Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin and other temples to seek guidance, protection and prosperity for the year ahead.







Wish-making at Lam Tsuen
At Lam Tsuen in Tai Po, wishes are written on paper placards, tied to oranges and thrown into banyan trees. According to tradition, if the placard remains on the tree, the wish will be granted.



Festive food
Traditional Lunar New Year dishes are laden with symbolism. Deep-fried sesame balls represent wealth and abundance while red-bean dumplings symbolise success.




Lion dances
Lion dances not only fill the streets with bright colours and raucous noise, but they also serve to ward off evil spirits and invite prosperity and good fortune for the year ahead.





Firecrackers
Although firecrackers are officially banned in Hong Kong today, archival images preserve a time when smoke, sparks and thunder marked the arrival of a hopeful new year.





In pictures: Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year obsession with good fortune

1 runner resuscitated, more hospitalised during 2006 marathon – from the SCMP archive

In pictures: Hong Kong readies for Lunar New Year

In pictures: Hong Kong’s coldest days from the 1970s to 2010s

From our archives

A girl spins a “wheel of fortune” outside the Che Kung Temple, in Sha Tin, on the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

Worshippers at Wong Tai Sin Temple pay tribute to the gods, seeking good fortune for the Year of the Ox in 1973. Photo: SCMP Archives

Worshippers burn incense at Wong Tai Sin Temple in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

A woman spins the blades of a windmill – a traditional charm believed to turn bad luck into good fortune, increase prosperity and improve health – on the third day of the Lunar New Year at Che Kung Temple in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

Che Kung Temple teems with worshippers on the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

A child plays with a windmill at Che Kung Temple in 1993. Photo: SCMP Archives

Worshippers burn incense at Che Kung Temple in 2000. Photo: SCMP Archives

Wong Tai Sin Temple on the second day of the Lunar New Year in 2003. Photo: SCMP Archives

A worshipper throws incense paper tied to fruit onto a wishing tree outside the Tin Hau Temple in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, in 1988. Photo: SCMP Archives

People throw wishes onto a wishing tree in Lam Tsuen in 2005. Photo: SCMP Archives

A woman throws her wishes onto a Lam Tsuen wishing tree in 2005. Photo: SCMP Archives

A stall sells deep-fried sesame balls during Lunar New Year in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

Women pick out chickens for their Lunar New Year dining tables in 1986. The birds are an important component of traditional Chinese feasts during festivals or significant days for worshipping gods or ancestors. Photo: SCMP Archives

Women select deep-fried sesame balls at King Wah Restaurant in Mong Kok in 1987. Photo: SCMP Archives

In the New Territories, women make traditional red bean and corn dumplings to offer guests on the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1989. Photo: SCMP Archives

Lion dancers of the future help ring in the Year of the Goat with a spirited, impromptu performance in Sheung Shui Wai in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

A lion dance is performed in front of a grocery store in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

A lion dance performance at the Happy Valley Racecourse in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

A lion dance at the entrance to Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1989. Photo: SCMP Archives

People touch a lion’s head for luck in the Year of the Monkey at Pacific Place in Admiralty in 2004. Photo: SCMP Archives

A string of firecrackers is set off to mark the Lunar New Year in 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

Children light firecrackers during a fun fair at the King George V Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

A youngster sets off a string of firecrackers to usher in the Year of the Snake at Che Kung Temple in 1989. Photo: SCMP Archives

Year of the Horse 2026 feng shui advice for Dogs for luck in career, money, love and health

How can those born in the Year of the Dog use feng shui to improve their luck in love, money and health this coming year? Feng shui practitioner Andrew Kwan shares advice. Photo: Shutterstock

13 Hong Kong restaurants with luxurious Lunar New Year menus for the Year of the Horse

Dishes featured in The Chinese Library’s eight-course Lunar New Year tasting menu. The high-end restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood is one of many in the city offering seasonal menus to ring in the Year of the Fire Horse 2026. Photo: The Chinese Library

Spring Moon’s lo hei features caviar, abalone, crab roe, radish, peppers, sweet potato, taro, pickled leeks, sesame and pomelo. Photo: Spring Moon

Sauteed lobster in fish broth is featured in Man Wah’s Lunar New Year six-course lunch menu. Photo: Man Wah

Dishes at Shang Palace, where Lunar New Year will be celebrated with a variety of set menus. Photo: Shang Palace

A selection of China Tang’s à la carte Lunar New Year specialities. Photo: China Tang

Dynasty’s Lunar New Year Bloom of Prosperity Poon Choi Set Menu will feature poon choi featuring a variety of auspicious ingredients. Photo: Dynasty

Golden Leaf’s premium Jade Lunar New Year menu will feature braised whole conpoy and dried oysters with sea moss. Photo: Golden Leaf 

Braised dried oyster with conpoy at Above & Beyond. Photo: Above & Beyond

Items from Celestial Court’s Spring Set Menu, available until the end of February. Photo: Celestial Court

Year of the Horse 2026 feng shui advice for Monkeys for luck in money, love and health

How can those born in the Year of the Monkey use feng shui to improve their luck in love, money and health this coming year? Feng shui practitioner Andrew Kwan shares advice. Photo: Shutterstock

Women with peach blossoms they bought at a flower market in January 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

A woman selects a tangerine tree ahead of the Lunar New Year in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

Victoria Park is turned into a flower market for the Lunar New Year in February 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives

Solicitor Jeremy Mathews, who would become the attorney general of Hong Kong the following year, with a kumquat tree at the Victoria Park flower market in 1987. Photo: SCMP Archives

Workers unload peach blossoms at the Victoria Park flower market in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

Governor Sir Edward Youde and Lady Youde visit the Lunar New Year flower market at Victoria Park in 1984. Photo: SCMP Archives

The 1993 Victoria Park flower market takes up the space of six football pitches. Photo: SCMP Archives

A shopper haggles with a stall owner in Victoria Park in 1995. Photo: SCMP Archives

Lunar New Year shoppers in Mong Kok in 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

A dried seafood and ginseng shop offers a 10 per cent discount ahead of the Lunar New Year in 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

A woman buys festive food for the holiday in 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives

A shoe shop offers discounts of up to 50 per cent ahead of the 1995 Lunar New Year, a time when buying footwear is considered bad luck. Photo: SCMP Archives

A fai chun stall in Mong Kok in 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

People shop for fai chun and lai see packets in 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives

A fai chun calligrapher at work in 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives

Calligrapher Lo Pak-chuen, 73, at work under the Canal Road flyover in Wan Chai in 1994. Photo: SCMP Archives

A customer chooses lai see packets at Chi Shing Hot Blocking, on Lee Tung Street, Wan Chai, in 2004. Photo: SCMP Archives

A woman outside the Kwun Tong branch of HSBC shows off the brand-new banknotes she has collected to fill her lai see packets in 2008. Photo: SCMP Archives

Year of the Horse 2026 feng shui advice for Sheep for luck in wealth, health and romance

How can those born in the Year of the Sheep use feng shui to improve their luck in love, money and health this coming year? Feng shui practitioner Andrew Kwan shares advice. Photo: Shutterstock

PostMag

Culture

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we take a look back at how Hong Kong invited good luck through traditional customs from the 1970s to the 2000s


To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we take a look back at how Hong Kong invited good luck through traditional customs from the 1970s to the 2000s.


In pictures: Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year obsession with good fortune

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we take a look back at how Hong Kong invited good luck through traditional customs from the 1970s to the 2000s

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Temple visits

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we take a look back at how Hong Kong invited good luck through traditional customs from the 1970s to the 2000s

Temple visits