WORDS & PICTURES: Luke Sutherland
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If you told me that I’d been dreaming, I would have believed you. Everyone who had come to visit the little fishing village had gathered in the square for the ceremony. My friends Libby, Ethan, Jess and I could hardly move. But we didn’t want to, anyway. Hanging from many strings, attached between the temples, huts and shops, were beautifully crafted paper lanterns of every colour. I glanced around to see fish swimming through the air and planets spinning slowly in the wind.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I hadn’t been in Hong Kong for very long. The schools all took holiday for the special date, so my friends and I decided to spend the day going to Tai O. To celebrate, people would traditionally light lanterns. We heard that the display in the tiny village was spectacular.
We took the ferry across from the New Territories, watching the Ngong Ping cable car and underwater tunnel to Macau – labelled the “Las Vegas of Asia” – pass us by. Libby had brought her camera and took some incredible shots.
Soon we arrived at the harbour, the waves carrying us to the pier, where old wooden houses stood on stilts. There were red-clawed crabs, fighting in the tide-washed sediment below the boardwalk. The tiny streets between the huts, more like wooden alleyways, were crowded with visitors. Sellers were calling out all kinds of species of dried seafood from old-fashioned stalls.
“Pink dolphin?” I heard to my left. Expecting another stall, we were all surprised to see a tour boat floating restlessly by the stairs. A cheeky salesman told us it was the last boat of the day. Soon we were drifting by the colourfully painted huts on stilts again. Although we definitely weren’t going to see any pink dolphins, it was amazing to get a real tour of the fishing village. Almost like a gondola of Venice, we circled around the waterways by which the residential fishermen joined the sea. Even before the sun had set, red lanterns hung from the arched bridges and roofs.
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Then it was time to explore the interior of Tai O by foot. Some of us stopped for bubble tea, Ethan and I got sesame, and the group naturally split in half. Passing through more narrow walkways filled with visitors and stalls, we found the courtyard. Incense poured from a golden-trimmed temple and lanterns on strings filled the sky. Hand-painted by craftsmen, they seemed to be waiting for the sun to set before they came to life.
Out of nowhere, one walkway led to a coastal path. The sky was turning a tropical hue as the waves crashed against the sand. This street along the sea was wider and filled with special lantern displays. Darkness set in as neon signs glowed. We took turns posing for the camera in front of the art. The path was sheltered by tin-metal sheets, decorated with strings of fairy lights too.
I saw a crowd of people further ahead and wanted to see what was going on. Looking over their shoulders, I saw a Shiba Inu in a tiny boat posing for a photo. It was so cute, like a sailor glowing in the decorated orange light.
Further on was a pink bubble sign that read: “You never walk alone; we can laugh if we are together.” I was happy to be with my friends exploring this magical island. As the sky grew darker, the displays of the Mid-Autumn Festival became more and more beautiful.
But nothing was more beautiful than that courtyard in the heart of the floating village. I felt a world away in time and place from the modern skyscrapers and insomniac harbours of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. You could breathe here, and people, when they talked, were talking in such a way that respected the natural peace of this island. I wasn’t sure if traditional Chinese music was playing, but it’s playing in my mind now as I recall that night. Everyone was there for a single reason: beauty. For just this night, we could escape from the rush of the city and relax into a scene from times gone by.
Little lights dangling in the night that brought the stars closer to the earth. It was our best attempt at making them. At least we had more colours. Blue, green, pink, orange, red, purple, and yellow. They were just over our heads and covered the sky. It was something I had never seen before, and before I knew it, my expectations for my trip and my reality were aligning. This was Hong Kong. In a way that couldn’t ever be changed. In a way that everyone could celebrate. From child to adult, I saw the light on everyone’s faces as we shuffled beneath the lantern display of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I think I fell asleep on the bus back to reality, and the lights of the island seemed to me a million miles away.
