HONG.KONG             -         In Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, a wellknown shrine and tourist attraction in Hong Kong, large crowds came early Monday morning to pray for blessings. With the adjustment of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention policy, the streets and lanes of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during this year’s Spring Festival, which falls on Sunday, are filled with a warm and festive atmosphere.

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, a large number of people headed to the Wong Tai Sin Temple to take part in a ritual to be the first to offer incense to the temple’s deity at the stroke of midnight after a two-year hiatus. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, a large number of people also came to the temple to worship.

A woman with her surname Wong said, “The temple is filled with a festive atmosphere. I am so happy and blessed.” Affected by the pandemic, the scale of the Lunar New Year Fair in Hong Kong was reduced in the past two years or canceled for a lower risk of crowd gathering. While this year’s fairs were held at 15 locations for seven days from Jan. 16, attracting more than 1.14 million visitors. Jan. 21 was the peak, with more than 100,000 visitors rushing to the fair at Victoria Park on a single day.