Lunar New Year fairs snaking into the city

Lunar New Year fairs open on Thursday in the city as part of festive celebrations to welcome the Year of the Snake.

Fifteen parks and playgrounds across Hong Kong including Victoria Park and Fa Hui Park will host the fairs, which are set to attract hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists from the mainland and abroad.

Organized by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the fairs run from January 23 to January 29.

The fairs will feature festive plants and flowers, street food, traditional decorations, lai see packets, spring couplets, toys and gifts to welcome the Lunar New Year.

The biggest of the fairs is the one at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, which will have as many as 338 stalls, according to reports.

Flower stalls at the fairs will packed to the gills as residents rush to pick new year blooms such as calamondin orange trees and peach blossoms, both of which are believed to bring good luck and prosperity to a home.

Hong Kong's retail markets and malls were packed over Christmas and New Year holiday season and lawmaker Starry Lee believes the trend is set to continue into the Lunar New Year, when the city welcomes the Year on The Snake on January 29.

The fairs open at 8am every day and admission is free.

STAFF REPORTER