Entering the most auspicious sign of the Chinese zodiac, Hong Kong will have plenty to celebrate when welcoming the year of the dragon.

People in Hong Kong are enjoying their holiday season by putting up red lanterns, ornamental plants and other cheerful decorations. Some of them even dress up as Chinese gods to express their wishes for the year. If an expatriate visits the city without knowing the date, they can easily figure out that it is time to celebrate the New Year in the lunar calendar.

Besides the typical red and colorful decorations, there are other signs that show that the popular Chinese holiday is coming:  unshaved men, happy faces, closed shops and long lineups outside of cinemas.

While most people are celebrating the Lunar New Year with their family, some people are still on their way home. This is all part of Chunyun, or “Spring Festival Travel” in China, which, according to BBC, is the largest annual human migration in the world.

But the Chinese government began to require people to buy tickets with ID number and real names via internet or telephone calls this year, as an attempt to get rid of tickets scalpers.

However, some people still found it difficult to buy a ticket home. Those who failed to buy tickets for an earlier train had to welcome the Dragon year on their way home.

Coming home will be worth the wait: they will be surrounded by many Lunar New Year traditions that are different from Hong Kong.

Lunar New Year outside traditions is widely observed outside of Hong Kong and across Asia.

People in mainland China celebrate the ancient festival with food and watch fireworks together with their family members. Lighting incense and kowtowing to the Buddha are also local customs to usher in an auspicious Year of the Dragon.

In Japan and India, Chinese tourists and expats achieve a strong sense of cultural identity through traditional Chinese decoration and celebration activities.

But outside of traditions, Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is serious business for the economy. There are many food vendor sales in wet markets. Shoppers are spending a lot of money to ring in the New Year. Malls are covered in lunar decorations to attract customers.

Spending is not only going to increase during the Lunar New Year holidays, it will be increasing for the rest of the year.

“Businesses have gone up 60% from this year in January compared to last year in January,”said Miu Ling Hau, the assistant manager of Hong Kong’s oldest bridal shop Koon Nam Wah. She said that people across Asia are rushing to the altar because they aspire to produce “Dragon Babies.”

“My parents wanted my fiancé and I to get married in May so we can try to have a child before the dragon year end. They tell me that dragon babies are more fortunate and prosperous than the other zodiac signs,” Sophia Ho, a Mainlander who lives in Dongguan, said.

Hong Kong increased by 5% the numbers of births during the last dragon year in 2000, according to official data. According to the BBC, state news agency Xinhua reported that China will be anticipating a 5% increase in the numbers of babies this year.

This population boom will not only affect the baby products and wedding industry, but it will also affect the education and health system as more space is needed to accommodate the dragon babies.

Luckily, the amount of births will most likely drop for the next Lunar New Year, which is the Year of the Snake.

Sign 1: The town is literally “painted red”

Most of the decorations during the festival are in red, since it is the lucky colour in Chinese tradition. These include the Chinese couplets, red packets, fireworks as well as the clothes that people wear.

Sign 2: Meeting smile faces everywhere
On the New Year day, there are usually more smiling faces than usual. One reason is that many people are having their longest holiday in a year. Another reason is to show politeness to people who may be giving out red packets.

Sign 3: Meeting guys who have not shaved

These days, some young male like to leave their face unshaved to look more masculine. On the New Year Day, however, men refrain from shaving for the sake of luck. In fact, apart from not shaving, people also refrain from having a shower for a similar reason.

Sign 4: Deserted streets

While streets are packed and barely passable before New Year comes, many of them are deserted on the New Year day. If you are planning to go shopping on the New Year Day, the only choices are the grand malls. Many small to medium boutiques and stores do not resume services until the third day of the Chinese New Year.

Sign 5: Cars lining on the roadside

On the New Year day, there are always long lines of cars on the roadside. Many drivers violate the road laws by parking in the street for the convenience of visiting their friends and family nearby. The Police tend to be less stringent with the rules of the New Year day.

Sign 6: Long queues outside cinemas
What else can people do on the New Year day when shops are closed? Many people would opt for a comedy in the cinema. Make sure you reserve your cinema ticket before the New Year day arrives!

People who live abroad or in a different province (for work or studies) typically return home early to be with the family on the eve of the Lunar new year and partake in the traditional reunion dinner.

As the number of China’s migrant workers grew, a new Spring Festival practice emerged, known as Chunyun or ‘Spring Festival travel’. Hailed as the largest annual human migration in the world, the country’s transportation system experiences tremendous pressure to accommodate the massive traffic flow.

Railway travel is a common mode of transport but many face difficulties in buying train tickets because tickets get sold out fast. Those who cannot afford to travel by plane have to wait until New Year’s Eve, or even the first day of new year, to board their train home.

Eric Liao, an advertising executive who works in Beijing, had planned to visit his family in the Guang Dong Province this year. However, he failed to buy his train ticket in advance, resulting in a journey home on New Year’s eve itself.

The soundslide below is a photo-diary of his 12 hours on the train:

Shenzhen is a bustling city with one of the largest migrant population in China. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, many people were seen queuing at the city’s railway station to buy train tickets. Despite the cold weather, children and adults alike were in high sprits.

Venturing further into the city, the streets were nearly empty with the exception of one or two taxis. Shops were closed and no one strolled on the pavements.

Over at Hong Kong International Airport, observers noted that the terminal was less bustling than usual during mid-day. However, a press statement from a spokesperson for Dragonair said that Chinese New Year is traditionally a peak season for the carriage, with travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan making up the majority of their passengers.

Mr. Donoan Ng was packaging the flowers for sale. His son, on the right, was learning his skill

The rent had risen so much that the profit from lunar new year flower sale might turn out less than last year’s, according to Mr. Donoan Ng, a flower business owner in Siu Sai Wan, a small district on the eastern edge of the Hong Kong Island.

The Link Management Limited (in Chinese: 領滙), the property mangement firm and landlord of Siu Sai Wan Market as well as the district’ s major shopping mall, raised the rent of his new year flower vendor by twenty to thirty percent, he said. The rent was more than two thousand dollars per day, he added. Due to contractual confidientiality, he chose not to  reveal the exact price, but he remarked it preoccupied the operating cost.

Sourcing flowers for the annual lunar new year flower sale had also become more expensive than doing last year, so the cost turned out to have risen a lot, especially the cost of gladiolus, which had increased by a hundred percent due to the cold weather that ruined the harvest last month.

The price of the traditionally popular new year flower, gladiolus, soared drastically. Each gladiolus costs forty dollars. Therefore, many customers chose not to buy them.

‘As the cost, especially the rent, has increased so much, we are not optimistic about our business,’ he said. ‘ Although there should be some gains, it will not be greater than last year’s.’

‘We did not dare to raise the price value of other flowers except gladiolus, which the farmers said they have just lost more than 90% of the harvest in the cold.’ he added ’I fear the old customers may buy flowers in the other stores. In such an unpredictable economy, they tend to be more cautious on their spending.’

The Western flowers were relatively cheaper in comparison to gladiolus, so most customers purchased them. The popular ones were tulips, lilium,cineraria and flamingo flowers.

Mr. Ng has been running his flower retail business for more than 30 years. His main retail shop is in Chai Wan, but he has also opened and managed  a branch in Siu Sai Wan for about 12 years.

Mr. Ng's store: It is right at the entrance of the Siu Sai Wan Market, a property of the Link.

This interview took place on the second last day before the lunar new year arrived, so Mr. Ng did not have a determined estimate of the business performance.  In tradition, the new year flower sale runs during the last 4 days before the lunar new year. The popular flowersWith gratitude to Mr. Ng

lilium (In Chinese: 百合): It bears the meaning of forever love and devotion.

cineraria (In Chinese: 富貴菊) : It is a symbol of wealth.

flamingo flowers (In Chinese: 紅掌): It does not have a specific meaning about fortune in tradition, but since red is the lucky color in the Chinese New Year, people tend to buy them.

As the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election will be held on March 25, 2012, Hong Kong political figures’ words and behaviors triggered discussions among people. Some retailers at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair found business opportunities by relating their commodities with local politics. Many of them utilized politician’s cartoon portraits making creative commodities.

Politician Balloon Tumbler

The photo above shows a balloon tumbler with a portrait of Leung Chun-ying on it. Leung is one of the candidates in 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election. Compared to another candidate Henry Tang, Leung was known for understanding the working class.

Politician Fish-Prawn-Crab

The photo above shows a large dice for a Chinese gambling game named Fish-Prawn-Crab. The producers used Hong Kong politicians’ cartoon characters to replace traditional patterns, such as fish and prawn, on the dice.

“Don’t believe it too much. My true self is actually beautiful,” she joked as she introduced the cross-strait film screened on March 30 as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

She could have fooled anyone. Chang’s performance had such heart and depth that it was easy to see her as a one-time Peking opera singer in despair rather than as a longtime Taiwanese actress with more than 80 film credits.

Buddha Mountain, which had its world premiere in Tokyo in October 2010, is the collaborative product of filmmakers and actors from Taiwan and mainland China. The film opened in Beijing in early March, grossing RMB25.7 million (HK$30.5 million) in the first four days.

The story is about three frustrated youths (played by Fan Bingbing, Chen Po Lin and Fei Long) who, seeking independence, rent rooms from a lonely woman (Chang) who is coping with the loss of her son. Each a little broken, the four characters learn to live together, let go and find comfort in one another.

As Chang said during a post-film Q&A: “Through the other party, they are able to feel their existence.”

The film’s title is taken from the name of a train station in Sichuan Province that the youths come across during one of their (many) directionless train-hopping jaunts.

Nearby, they discover an old temple destroyed by the earthquake in 2008. The three and their landlady help rebuild the Guan Yin Buddha temple, and in the process, put themselves together again.

To Chang, the train represents something profound, an allusion to life and death. “You can get on together and enjoy life, but who knows if you can get off together,” she said.

When the audience does disembark from the movie, it is left pondering an ambiguous ending.

It was an ending that Chang said she struggled with. “I discussed it with the director for half a year. I had lots of questions for her. [The scripted ending] didn’t seem right,” Chang said.  “But in the end, it was up to the director.”

The role was a departure for Chang, who is also a director and screenwriter. Chang, 57, is known for playing a tough-talking police officer in the Aces Go Places comedies in the 1980s.

“The director was looking for someone with a painful experience to play the role of the landlady. It’s different for me, but I tried to do my best because I like her work,” Chang said, referring to director Li Yu.

“The director used a hand-held technique so it didn’t feel like we were making a movie,” Chang added. “It felt like we were just living life.”

Li, whose controversial film Lost in Beijing was banned by Chinese authorities in 2008, did not appear at the Q&A because she was unable to process her visa application in time, according to HKIFF’s website.

View a clip from the film:

About 80 graduates enrolled in 2010-11 as both part-time and full-time students. The following map indicates their countries of origin:

In addition to classes and lab sessions, the JMSC programme emphasises internship and in-service training opportunities to provide hands-on experience. One such project is the JMSC-ABC on Campus reporting programme.

Click the picture below for the Bureau website and work examples.

The ABC on Campus Team 2010-2011

The interactive pie chart below indicates the diversity of MJ students’ nationalities.

Diverse Interests

Eldes Tran

Eldes Tran, 28, worked at the Los Angeles Times as a copy editor for four years before coming to JMSC. With the newspaper industry struggling, she wanted to join the Master’s of Journalism programme in Hong Kong to gain an international perspective.

“I want to broaden my journalism skills and also, coming to Hong Kong gives me a chance to know more about what’s happening in Asia. I would love to stay and work in Asia after graduation.”

Tran interned with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) during the spring and fall semesters. One of the live projects she spent time on was the interactive database, Who Runs Hong Kong, managed by SCMP journalist, Irene Jay Liu, who also teaches computer-assisted reporting at the JMSC. She said it was a great experience learning how to combine complicated data for investigative stories.

Chien Mi Wong

Chien Mi Wong, 25, worked in the banking industry for one-and-a-half-years before coming to JMSC. Seeking a career change, Wong wants to switch to journalism because she loves writing.

“I want to be a financial journalist because I have always loved writing,” Wong said. “And with my financial background, I hope to become a successful financial journalist someday, and JMSC is definitely a good place to start.”

Richard Schuster

Richard Schuster, 29, worked in the broadcast industry in Hungary for seven years before coming to JMSC. He was a news anchor for five years at TV2 and an assistant teacher at the University of Film, Theatre and Television in Budapest. Schuster decided to come to JMSC to gain an Asian perspective and enhance his journalism skills.

“JMSC is one of the best schools in the world, and Hong Kong is where everything is happening,” Schuster said. “Coming to JMSC, I hope to learn to become a creative storyteller.”

The JMSC can be followed at Twitter (JMSCHKU). View a sample of recent tweets:

Cheung Chau, the dumbell-shaped island in Hong Kong’s western waters is reached from Central Pier 5: the fast ferry journey takes half an hour; the journey on the more infrequent slow ferries is a leisurely 50 minutes.

First Treat: Hello Kitty Waffles

Topped with cream, honey and sugar, the snack is an ideal accompaniment to an afternoon cup of tea.
in the afternoon.

The waffles are served by the Lovely Island Restaurant located close to the ferry pier.

Cheong’s Fish Balls

Cheong's Fishballs. Since 1959.

Cheong’s Fish ball is just along the waterfront from the Lovely Island Restaurant. It specialises, as its name suggests, in fish balls. The deli, which has been in operation for more than a half-century, since 1959, charges $23 for a set meal of fish- and cuttlefish balls. They are also available with rice noodles.

Sun Chiu Kee: Traditional Dim Sum

Peace Buns: unique to Cheung Chau

Dim sum shop Sun Chiu Kee located in Tung Wan Road is famous for its various home-made Chinese traditional cakes, specifically red bean cake, purple rice cake, sesame cake and the most noted pastry in Cheung Chau – “the peace bun” (pictured).

These buns are the centre-piece of the annual Bun Festival which celebrates the island’s deliverance from a plague in the 19th century. when many people participate in a scramble up towers of buns. Who ever collects the most, wins. This year the carnival will take place between April 23 and May 11.

Sushi Rolls and Red Bean Buns. Simple but tasty.

Hometown Teahouse

Also located in Tung Wan Road, is owned by a Japanese woman Takahiko–san and her husband. The shop is little more than a counter with an open window through which the couple serve a variety of sushi rolls and red bean buns.  Simple but tasty.

Tung Wan Beach

Just a short stroll across the narrow width of the island is Tung Wan Beach. Rarely crowded during the week, it is a popular spot for windsurfing.

Hong Kong’s windsurfing Olympic Gold-medialist, Lee Lai-shan hails from Cheung Chau. Her uncle and aunt still run a windsurfing centre there.

The map of Cheung Chau Island, looks like a Chinese dragon.