Monday January 23, 2012
The year of the dragon is upon us and in between the fireworks and food it's time to sit down and look what your Chinese New year horoscopes have to say for the year ahead. The Year of the Dragon is considered a lucky year so there should be good news for most.
Chinese zodiac signs are determined by the year you were born and you can find out which of the twelve animals you are in our Chinese zodiac guide. We've also been digging around the birth dates of the rich and famous and discovered a host of great names born in the year of the dragon - from the great - Martin Luther King - to the slightly ghoulish - Vladimir Putin - as well as a host of Hollywood stars. Find out who you share your sign with and if you share their characteristics.
Photo: Dragon dance. Copyright Getty
Saturday January 21, 2012
Flower markets are a Chinese New Year tradition and in Hong Kong there will be a number running around the clock to satisfy the city's demand for bountiful bouquets.
Flowers are popular both to give as a gift and to decorate your own home - brightly colored arrangements - especially those in red - are considered good luck. Many Chinese families are superstitious about Chinese New Year, believing actions over the holiday can impact life over the next 12 months. You'll hear the words auspicious and inauspicious a lot.
The Chinese New Year equivalent of the Christmas Tree is a kumquat tree, with the bright orange fruits believed to bring luck and the tree itself believed to be auspicious for wealth in the new year. Flower markets are stacked with them.
Even if you aren't planning to buy a bouquet it's worth heading to a Chinese New year flower market just to soak up the atmosphere. After work, usually from 8pm onwards, markets buzz beneath neon lights with brightly colored stalls and families wobbling around their hands filled with flowers and candy.
The biggest flower market in Hong Kong is in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. Here you'll find hundreds of stalls open from every day from mid January until Chinese New year's eve on the 22nd.
More on Chinese New Year
Photo: Chinese New Year Flower Markets. Copyright Theirry Grun/Getty
Saturday December 31, 2011
Now the warm up New Year is out the way - December 31st - Macau can start focussing on the real celebration - Chinese New Year. The biggest holiday of the year and an annual excuse to eat too much, argue with family and blow up a factories worth of fireworks offers some great events for visitors.
The blockbuster events are the fireworks display and the Chinese New year parade - this year featuring a 250 metre plus dragon winding through the streets - but there's much more going on that doesn't always make it into the tourist guides. Particularly enjoyable are the night flower markets where families waddle around laden with kumquat trees other 'lucky' flowers and the temples where revellers go to ply dieties with goodies.
Scheduled in for January 23rd, you can find out about all of these events and more in our Chinese New Year in Macau guide.
Photo: Dragon for Chinese New Year. Copyright Getty
Saturday December 31, 2011
The Peninsula Hong Kong is up against increasingly palatial properties in its bid to stay the city's number 1 luxury hotel. iPod docks rather than trouser presses and cocktail lounges not tearooms seem to be the order of the day. So how does The Peninsula Hong Kong measure up?
Built in 1928 - an absolute lifetime in Hong Kong terms - the Peninsula - or Pen as it's known locally - has been the swankiest hotel in town since men wore frilly moustaches and the Game wasn't a rapper but show of brinkmanship between Russia and England in the Northwest frontier. Cucumber sandwiches and cream teas were the order of the day and the Governor's Ball was the hottest ticket in town.
Thankfully the Peninsula still revels in its colonial charm with marble colonnades and polished wood furnishings. You still need to wear a jacket for dinner and a string quartet accompanies the high tea in the lobby. It's got character and it's got class.
Find out what we thought of the hotel in our full Peninsula Hong Kong Hotel review and share your opinion.
Photo: Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong lit up at night. Copyright: Peninsula Hotel
