Yu Lan Festival of the Hong
Kong Chiu Chow Community
There is a considerable number of Chiu Chow natives in Hong Kong. They actively carry on the cultural traditions of Chiu Chow and Shantou. During the annual ghost festival, Chiu Chow diaspora residing in Hong Kong organise the month-long Yu Lan Festival, which spans from the beginning to the end of the seventh lunar month. The event has been held for more than 100 years. Its main objective is to carry out ancestral worship ceremonies and perform rituals for wandering ghosts in the netherworld. The activities include burning paper offerings on the street, performing Chiu Chow operas for thanksgiving to the deities, burning effigies of the Ghost King, distributing auspicious rice and auctioning auspicious objects. Yu Lan Festival of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow community was inscribed onto the third national list of ICH in 2011.