Four traditional activities in Hong Kong apply for cultural heritage to the country
Tai Hang residents hold fire dragon dances during the Mid-Autumn Festival to ensure peace and security.
Photo)
[Ta Kung Pao News] The Special Administrative Region Government has applied to the state to list the Cheung Chau Taiping Festival, Tai O Dragon Boat Festival Tour, Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance and Hong Kong Chaozhou People's Yulan Festival as the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage.
The results are expected to be announced in June next year.
The Secretary for Home Affairs, Tsang Tak-sing, said that the project has been passed down in the local community for more than a hundred years and is quite representative and generally recognized by the society.
He hopes that the application will provide a reference for establishing a comprehensive application and selection mechanism in Hong Kong in the future.
In July this year, the Ministry of Culture invited the SAR government to apply for the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.
The government earlier formed an expert group to review the application projects and believed that all of the above four projects have outstanding historical and cultural values, have been passed down from generation to generation in the local community, have distinctive characteristics, have significant influence in the community, and demonstrate the cultural creativity of the Chinese nation.
After consulting expert opinions, the Home Affairs Bureau decided to apply for the above four projects.
The relevant application texts have been submitted to the Ministry of Culture, and the results are expected to be announced in June next year.
Results will be announced in June next year
This is the first time that the SAR government has separately applied for projects in the Hong Kong SAR.
All four projects fall into the categories of "social practices, rituals, festivals" defined by the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Most of the four projects originated locally, including the Cheung Chau Peace Festival and the Tai Hang Mid-Autumn Fire Dragon Dance with more than 100 years of history.
Zeng Decheng expressed the hope that through this pilot plan, it will provide reference for establishing a comprehensive application and selection mechanism in Hong Kong in the future.
Huang Huiqiong, head of the Tai O Cultural Studio, expressed pleasure with this application.
She said that during the Dragon Boat Festival every year, a large number of citizens and tourists come to Tai O from the urban area to watch the "Dragon Boat Games God", which has also become a landmark activity for Hong Kong people to experience tradition.
Regarding the decline of fishing industry in recent years, Tai O Dragon Boat may not be guaranteed.
She hopes that the government will allocate appropriate additional resources in the future to sponsor the registered Tai O Dragon Boat Club, which will have the ability to purchase new dragon boats and organize activities every year.
She also hopes to improve transportation to and from Tai O in urban areas.
Attract more people to stimulate tourism.
Cantonese opera herbal tea is on the list
In 2006 and 2008 respectively, the State Council announced two batches of 1,028 national-level intangible cultural heritage items.
When the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects were invited to apply, the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao jointly applied and successfully included Cantonese opera and herbal tea in the list of the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage.
Source: Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao)