Hong Kong Flower Show 2018: Appreciating Intangible Cultural Heritage in the World of Flowers

Inscribed onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong (the Representative List), nanyin (southern tunes) is an art of narrative singing performed in the Cantonese dialect. Featuring a rustic and simplistic style, nanyin was a popular form of entertainment in early 20th century in Hong Kong. The singing is often accompanied by the yehu, the zheng, the qinqin, the dongxiao or the yangqin; clappers are also used for creating a beat for the performance. In the old days, nanyin pieces – which sounded like story-telling and singing at the same time – were heard in different parts of Hong Kong, such as street corners, teahouses, radio and television stations, etc. Even though the lyrics are unsophisticated and the melodies are rustic, they are highly playful and enjoyable.

Based on the singing narrative format of nanyin, the art group "The Gong Strikes One" has written tunes and lyrics to introduce the items inscribed onto the Representative List, as well as the music and lyric formats and musical features of the singing style of nanyin. The theme flower of this year's flower show, "Dahlia", also becomes a topic for the narrative singing.

Inscribed onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong , Hong Kong-style milk tea is an iconic local drink famous for its richness and aroma. A cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea must be fragrant, intense, and smooth. The secret to make a good cup of milk tea lies in the milk tea master and his / her tea-making techniques.

Master Tse Chung-tak, the first runner-up in the Hong Kong KamCha (Hong Kong-style milk tea) Competition in 2010, will be demonstrating the secret techniques for making Hong Kong-style milk tea that is packed with local flavours. The audience will be able to sample a cup of aromatic and smooth Hong Kong-style milk tea in the world of flowers and experience the nostalgia of old Hong Kong.

Inscribed onto the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, herbal tea is a health supplement beverage formulated with Chinese herbs based on Chinese medicine theories to respond to the climate and geographical features of southern China. The tea is dark brown with a bitter-sweet taste. The old habit of brewing herbal tea was to collect herbs from the vicinity. There are quite many floral formulations, such as "Five-flower Tea", Chrysmori Beverage, Chrysanthemum Tea, etc. A sip of herbal tea does not only offer a cooling effect and quenches thirst, but also brings out the unique floral notes.

Hong Kong Baptist University School of Chinese Medicine - Lui Seng Chun will prepare herbal tea for the audience. They would also introduce the efficacy of herbal tea, so that the audience can know more about the folk wisdom embedded in the beverage.

On the Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory of Hong Kong, there are many items directly related to our food and drink culture, such as the production techniques of local or festive food like pineapple buns, egg tarts, Chiu Chow Five Assorted Betrothal Cakes and Ching Ming Tsai (Paederia scandens Sticky Rice Dumpling).

Ms. Shirley Wong is a pastry chef devoted to the study of the production techniques of local pastries and breads. In "ICH Dai Pai Dong", she will prepare some ICH food to share with the audience and introduce their features. The audience can answer a question about ICH items and get the chance to enjoy ICH food packed with local flavours. It will be absolutely fun to sample some good food and get to know more about ICH items too!