Kung hei fat choy! Send Lunar New Year texts when all others fail, or via a 3D avatar, with 5 festive apps for Hong Kong
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As many parts of Asia including China and Hong Kong get ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which officially begins on February 8, many expats may find themselves excluded from the festivities as these mainly take place in people’s homes and at restaurants.
However, many restaurants in Hong Kong will be closed from Sunday through Tuesday; the weather is still fairly cold; and the traditions associated with Chinese New Year - for example, giving lai see, or little red envelopes stuffed with cash - may seem unfamiliar or even bewildering to people from other countries.
To make life easier and more enjoyable as we usher in the Year of the Monkey, according to the Chinese zodiac, here are five apps you may want to download.
1. FireChat: a messaging app that still works when phone signals are weak
Crowds will be congesting various parts of the city as the festive spirit takes over. Whether it’s the New Year’s Eve market in Victoria Park, the New Year’s parades in Tsim Sha Tsui or the firework shows at Victoria Harbour, chances are your WhatsApp or WeChat messages may fail at some point due to weak phone signals. Fortunately, Open Garden, the brains behind FireChat, have found a way to keep you connected without a signal - so you don’t have to worry about losing your friends or missing that special date.
The app works by piggybacking on nearby phones that also have it installed and bouncing messages around. If there aren’t any within a 70-metre radius, your message will be saved until you approach one, or until the network connection is restored.