Taoist temple expects 40,000 devotees for Lunar New Year's Eve ritual

Hong Kong's famous Taoist temple in Wong Tai Sin will open its doors at 9pm on January 28 for worshippers to burn the first incense sticks to the Great Immortal Wong, a deity believed to possess healing powers, by 11pm on Lunar New Year’s Eve. 

The Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple temple will open overnight until 9pm on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

“We expect 30,000 to 40,000 visitors on Lunar New Year’s Eve, and a total of nearly 1 million for the whole [holiday] period until the Lantern Festival," said the temple's chief executive officer Doris Sin Pik-shan.

Worshipers can offer incense at three points of worship – the Main Altar, Three Saints Hall and Yue Heung Pavilion – and proceed without stopping. 

A one-way route and crowd control measures will be implemented at the shrine, and there will be no area for drawing fortune sticks, prostration or making offerings.

People who are unable to visit the shrine can pray to Master Wong Tai Sin through the temple’s online blessing system or watch the live broadcast on its YouTube channel or online platform TAO-NET. 

Its Facebook and Instagram pages will also livestream the incense burning event at midnight.

For the first to the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the temple will continue to implement crowd-control measures and one-way routes.

Before entering the temple, worshippers will need to queue up at the Wong Tai Sin Temple Square and Wong Tai Sin Square in two lines heading toward the Main Altar and Taisui Yuanchen Hall, respectively.

(Stacy Shi)