Hottest Chung Yeung Festival in a century

People flocked to cemeteries yesterday under sweltering heat on the hottest Chung Yeung Festival in over a century, with long queues of grave sweepers hiking to pay tribute to their ancestors.

A woman, 64, collapsed when visiting her ancestors' grave in Sheung Shui under the Very Hot Weather Warning issued at 6.45am and which remained in force for most of the holiday also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

Ms Hau was conscious when officers arrived at around 11am but she told them there was no need to go to the hospital.

Despite the weather, a spokeswoman from the Hospital Authority told The Standard that no heat stroke patients were treated.

At 3.30pm, the observatory recorded a temperature of 33.5 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest Chung Yeung Festival since 1884.

The festival is observed on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. People usually go hiking or pay tribute to their ancestors during the public holiday.

Some people complained that it was inconvenient to sweep tombs under the current four-person gathering cap and that it was unbearable to keep their masks on in the heat.

Among the grave sweepers was a man surnamed Yeung who said only a few of his family members could join the ritual.

"I don't know why the gathering ban remains at four people, but restaurants can have a maximum of eight at a table," Yeung said.

A woman surnamed Chu chose to go alone.

"I did not bring many offerings, only some flowers, roasted pork and bread. It is not necessary to have dozens of relatives [paying tributes at the same time] and it would be too crowded if they all came," Chu said.

"We can pay tribute to our ancestors anytime we want."

In the Diamond Hill cemetery, grave sweepers were given a mini fan and leaflets reminding them to be aware of hill fires.

Special traffic-control arrangements were in place at cemeteries across the city, with a full road closure and no bus service or vehicles allowed in the channel to Junk Bay Chinese Permanent Cemetery in Tseung Kwan O from 5.30am to 8pm. Some had arrived in private cars or taxis to the venue at 4.30am to get around the road closure.

The observatory said temperatures will fall slightly in the next couple of days, ranging from 27 to 32 degrees, while daily showers are expected until October 10.

"An anticyclone aloft is bringing generally fine weather to southern China. Besides, pressure is rising over eastern China,and the northeast monsoon is expected to reach the coast of Guangdong [this morning]," it said.

The intensity of UV radiation will be very high, with the maximum UV index at about eight today, the observatory said.

A dry replenishment of the northeast monsoon is expected to affect southern China early to mid next week and will bring fine weather over the region, with temperatures expected to dip to 24 degrees.

The temperature difference between day and night will be relatively large over inland areas.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com