One of the 974 things I like about Hong Kong…

No protracted shopping festivals where each holiday seamlessly melds into the next creating the illusion that it is actually one long holiday with different products required at each end.

Holiday creep (or Christeaster) – where one festival, holiday,  special occasion blurs into the next.

In quite a few Western countries,  the products,  decorations and associated foods are being advertised, prominently displayed and sold increasingly earlier.  Easter now begins on 26 December. This is the day where discounted Christmas decorations, cards and leftover mince tarts vie for space with cold hot cross buns, Cadbury creme eggs, colourful chocolate eggs and various bunny-themed things.

The Christmas sale begins.

This saddens me. I love a discreet occasion and a chance to wind down before gearing up for another.  Hong Kong provides this opportunity.

How is this possible in a country where shopping competes with hiking to be the national past time? The country where there are more Louis Vuitton stores per capita than anywhere else? The country where local people can tell a knock-off handbag, shoes, jewellery and pretty much any clothing at 100 paces?

It has more holidays.

This year, there are 13 public holidays, not including those that fall on a weekend.

These additional holidays are generally not added opportunities to excessively consume, though it wouldn’t be HK if there wasn’t some opportunity to make a bit of cash. In general, they have retained more of their original meaning and purpose with the Western holidays as the exception.

The holidays are quite different from each other and there’s the added benefit that some follow the lunar calendar so there is a greater likelihood of a minimal holiday creep or at least, if it happens one year, it’s unlikely the following.

This time of the year, I’d put money on the Easter things already being out in Sydney, whereas Easter is yet to arrive in HK. This year, stores are in a bit of a dilemma as it’s one of the few times that Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year overlap to a degree. Godiva is the hardest hit and has elected to promote CNY rather than the more Western / Hallmark holiday. That said, I’d expect many who go to the CNY flower markets in Victoria Park, shopping for their auspicious plant and watching the nigh parade with the lucky lions, will be using this as a date too. Makes a change from going to Ikea.

Shop entrance decorated for CNY

Bright red lanterns, gold money bags, stuffed lucky fish, this year’s Chinese zodiac symbol (goat), firecrackers and new year wishes adorn most available space in stores as people stock up on their lai see packets, start preparing their crisp notes to enclose,  before giving them to their single friends, family and colleagues as well as those that have provided them with service of some sort throughout the year.

Table display in at my work

Similar to Christmas, buildings are lit with CNY wishes running down their facades in bright neon lights.

There’s something in particular to do for each of the 15 days of CNY. The symbolism in all the detail and various rituals, the time spent with family and friends and the opportunity to wish everyone a prosperous new year gives the whole thing a ceremony and a grandeur that is missing from other holidays. Christmas is the only exception.

There are more public holidays in China this year for CNY (there’s a reason they call it Golden Week, it’s also their busiest travel period with most returning to their home towns), with only three days in Hong Kong (two if you don’t normally have to work on a Saturday.). I’m sure we’ll cope.

After CNY, the Easter things start to come out however, there is usually at least a week in between. Easter is looked forward to as an opportunity to either leave HK for an extended weekend or to relax at home. This year, there’s the added benefit of an additional day as one of the Easter public holidays coincides with the Ching Ming Festival (it’s the Tomb Sweeping Festival so it would be disrespectful to everyones’ ancestors to cancel it).

CNY lights across the Harbour

There are numerous other holidays and festivals too though not all require decorations or shopping. Again,  that’s a bit of a surprise since this is also a country where any opportunity to make money is seized upon the second it’s conceived.

Embracing one of these opportunities,  Halloween is a mini-big deal. Aside from the party in LKF and another opportunity to dress up, it delays the start of Christmas. There are pumpkins, costumes, various ghoul-themed decorations etc until 1 November. Beautifully, there are enough Americans here to help further delay the start of Christmas as there’s a slight nod to Thanksgiving. Not quite as overboard as Halloween in the stores, just enough to keep Christmas at bay for a little longer rather than beginning immediately at the end of October. This is the one that runs the greatest risk of holiday creep. Especially since Christmas is where most money stands to be made.

The expat demographic is shifting again as the European economy further deteriorates. There are more French here than previously and the population of Germans has also been increasing. There is already an Oktoberfest so it’s only a matter of time to see what holiday is adopted from the French to help prevent holiday creep and for some additional dollars to be made.

* Thanks to The Killers for the title to this post.