July 1st is a public holiday in Hong Kong - this is the 17th celebration of the day that Britain handed Hong Kong over to China. Tom was off work today. They had different events and celebrations all over the city. We went to the local town to watch a Lion and Kirin Dance Festival. (They were handing out Hong Kong and China flags)
We watched for about 40 minutes (it was scheduled for 3 hours) and saw several different dance groups perform lion dances. All the groups consisted of men, ranging from teenagers to older men probably in their 60s or 70s. Several of the men would play music (drums, gongs, symbols) while a few (always the younger ones) danced in the lion costume. As part of the dance, the lion would eat some lettuce with a red envelope attached. The envelope usually contains money. The lion spits out the lettuce (or other green vegetable) and keeps the envelope. The money is a gift for the dance group. This ritual is supposed to bring luck to the audience or area/business.
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