CHUNG YEUNG FESTIVAL – OCTOBER 07, 2008 PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Chung Yeung Festival is the second of the grave sweeping festivals, the first being Ching Ming in the spring.

Traditionally, it is a day for the family to visit and pay respect to their ancestors.

Traditionally on this day the followers are supposed to "go up the mountain". The story tells that a long time ago a devil of plague appeared in the Ruhe River. A Taoist had taught a kid named Heng Jing about the ways defeat this plague.

The boy was told by the priest that the devil would come back on the September 9th and asked him to go back and save the village. He did this by asking them to go climb up a mountain, then while the villagers were safe he tricked the plague devil with some strong Chinese wine made of Chrysanthemum flowers and killed him.

This festival is held in autumn, when it is very dry every where in Hong Kong with humidity of not more than fifty per cent, bringing the risk of hill fires from the burnt offerings. Special fire-proof bins are provided to the grave sweepers to put burning ash, but the risk of carelessness or mistakes exists.

Cheung Yeung Festival is a public holiday in Hong Kong. So Globstar’s offices and shops will not operate today, the 7th October 2008. We will resume operation tomorrow.