2023-09-30 16:00:00
Although I live not far from Tai Hang in Causeway Bay, I miss the fire dragon dance in Tai Hang every year. Even if I thought regarding taking a live photo of the fire dragon dance, it always failed to happen due to some strange combination of circumstances, until this year.
The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, which was suspended for three years due to the epidemic, will be held once more this year for three nights in a row. On the full moon night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, following watching the moon rise over the opposite hill at home, I put down my rice bowl and took the bus to Tin Hau. I thought that others would agree with me. At 7:30, Victoria Park and Causeway Bay Road were already crowded with people. After finally squeezing through Causeway Bay Road and walking to the Lotus Temple, I saw the police setting up a cordon in front of the temple, waiting to see the fire dragon dancers being separated on both sides of the cordon, leaving the middle aisle free.
This formation showed that the fire dragon would dance here, so I climbed up to a flower bed at a high place, squeezed a position among the photographers who had been waiting above with their cameras, and stood waiting for the fire dragon to dance over. After regarding fifteen minutes, the police took the microphone and asked the audience on both sides to step back as much as possible, saying that the fire dragon was coming. The spectators on both sides became excited and raised their mobile phones to take pictures and videos. The bright mobile screens in the dark alley suddenly formed a magnificent picture. Then a fire dragon with 12,000 sticks of incense inserted all over its body appeared, rumbling and dancing from far to near. In a small area in front of the dimly lit Lotus Palace, sparks suddenly flickered and smoke billowed.
Three hundred dragon dancers supported the fire dragon, and the fireball flew up and down. The dragon head and the incense on the dragon’s body rose and fell with the flow. The fire spots on the incense head flickered bright and dark, and the sparks splashed like meteors across the dragon dance. The people’s hands worked harder and the wind blew, and the winding and twisting fire dragon became more and more lively and spectacular.
As the dragon dancer shouted, the audience burst into cheers and the scene was filled with excitement. The fire dragon circled twice in front of the Lotus Palace, and finally knocked a few times with its head towards the temple door. After the ceremony was completed, it danced outward once more, through the streets and alleys, praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits, and headed towards Victoria Park. The crowd around them dispersed happily, and following the fun was over, they headed home.
Li Chun’en
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#Chunen #Fire #Dragon #Dance #Tai #Hang #Live #good #life
