OGGI HO FATTO

on the second day of chinese new year, i decided to go to a temple to see the celebrations first-hand. i didn't really want to go down to Central to see the parade, it was too far as i was feeling weak. and i kind of felt like seeing the out-of-Central reality. so i picked a temple from the guidebook, one that was quite far up kownloon peninsula, in the opposite direction from Central. just 2 MTR stops away from me, at Tai Wai.

so i went to see what the families were getting up to for their new year's celebrations. Taoism is a strange religion. it's based on superstition. it makes a very nice change from western-catholic-monotheism-churchism. i didn't get any photos in the temple itself but it was a loud, rowdy, messy and smelly celebration: lovely. families arriving with grandparents and kids, all holding lucky spinning windmills made of fancy paper. crowds of people pushing into the temple, all holding massive bunches of incense sticks: there was more incense smoke than oxygen! the main part of the temple is outdoors, in a courtyard. i don't specifically know how the worship works but it certainly didn't consist of sitting quietly on a wooden bench listening a guy talk for an hour. i like this kind of religion, where people can run around and be as loud as they want and rejoice all together. i just stood there for maybe half an hour soaking it up and it was great.

another difference from the religiousness i'm used to: in europe, the older a church is, the more holy it seems, somehow, because it is infused with the sacredness of hundreds of years. here, the old temples are constantly rebuilt with new materials, so they never look old. it's interesting.. the hong kongese do not have appreciation for the ancient. so distant from our conception of art and architecture in Italy.

after my little while of participating in lunar new year celebrations (or just witnessing them), i needed some sustenance, so i checked out the neighbourhood.

can i just say, this is the reason i came to Hong Kong.