Tai Po Market, Hong Kong

A few weeks ago I went to Hong Kong for a day trip as most people had off for a few days for the Qingming Festival.  It’s a nationwide public holiday.  Also known as Ancestors Day and more commonly Tomb Sweeping Day, it is a traditional Chinese festival usually occurring around April 5.  Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime and tend to the graves of departed ones.

Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors and is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honor their ancestors.  Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories, and/or libations to the ancestors.  The rites have a long tradition in Asia stretching back more than 2,500 years.

Despite having no holiday status, the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asian nations, such as those in Singapore and Malaysia, take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. For the oversea Chinese community, the Qingming festival is very much a family celebration and, at the same time, a family obligation.

But going back to my day trip, the first place I visited was Tai Po.  I wanted to see its market as well as a nearby temple and museum.  Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong consisting of ‘market’ towns.  Although there are many public housing complexes in the densely-populated area of Tai Po, there are many expensive high-end private properties in the sparsely populated area of Tai Po.

After exiting the Tai Po Market train station, the first place I went to was Tai Po Market which was walking distance from the station.  I believe the building contained three floors.  On ground-level, you could buy fresh meat, fish, and poultry.  On the second floor, you could shop for dry and wet goods and on the third floor was the cooked food center or hawker court if you wanted to eat.  Some pics below.

Again, I went to Hong Kong for a day-trip so the coming posts will all be from this single day journey.