Hong Kong Lunar New Year Fairs’ changes make a win-win situation
Shopping beautiful flowers at Lunar New Year Fairs is Hong Kong citizens’ favorite activity to welcome Chinese New Year.
Due to the ongoing 4th wave of Covid-19 outbreak, Hong Kong SAR Government first cancelled the fair.
Later it decided to open 15 government venues for selling flowers with crowd control and stringent infection control measures.
Changes in Hong Kong’s Chinese New Year Fair create a win-win situation
Frank the tour guide is going to show readers the changes in the Chinese New Fairs in 2021 in this post.
| Changes in Lunar New Year Fair in 2021 |
|---|
| Name changes |
| Shorter period and shorter opening hours |
| Changes in admission |
| Changes inside the venue |
Frank visited the flower selling point near his home.
Frank thinks the changes can achieve the win-win situation for the government, flower sellers and citizens.
Government can satisfy public demands for the Chinese New Year bazaar and achieve the goals for crowd control and infection control.
Keeping social distance is a must
Sellers can get a rent-free venues to sell their products.
Citizens can buy pretty flowers for the Spring Festival easily.
The environment in the fairs is a lot better than the famous Flower Market in Mong Kok.
It is too crowded at Mong Kok’s Flower Market
People are difficult to sell and buy flowers and the over-crowdedness causes risk of spreading virus.
The bad condition at Flower Market shows dodging the crowds is always important.
Frank will continue to dodge the crowds to offer easy Hong Kong private tour experience to clients in the future.
Name changes
In the past, the name of the outdoor temporary bazaar was “Chinese New Year Fair” or “Lunar New Year Carnival”.
Victoria Prak Lunar New Year Fair 2015
Hong Kong SAR Government just calls the activity as the “Points of Sale of New Year Flowers” in 2021.
This reflects the activity is for selling and buying flowers only and has a smaller scale.
A Point of Sale of New Year Flowers in Hong Kong
People can buy other new year souvenirs at other places only.
Shorter period and shorter opening hours
Apart from the new name, the activity has a new period and opening hours.
Normally the “Chinese New Year Fair” lasted for 7 days.
The carnival had a long opening hours, especially on the last day, Chinese New Year eve.
People could count down at the fair venues and continued to shop for the discounted flowers and souvenirs.
A bamboo stall
In 2021, the “Points of Sale of New Year Flowers” only last for 6 days.
The opening hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. everyday.
Shoppers cannot do shopping after mid-night on the new year eve.
At 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., the venues are even closed for cleaning for one hour.
Changes in admission
Apart from the normal crowd control measures, Hong Kong SAR Government adds the infection control measures at the flower selling points.
Before entering, visitors may choose to use the LeaveHomeSafe Application to scan the QR code.
QR Code for LeaveHomeSafe App
The app stores users’ journey in users’ phones.
It can receive the alert and medical advise if users were at the same flower selling point at about the same time with a recently confirmed COVID-19 patient.
All the visitors need to pass the checkpoint at the entrance.
The checkpoint for checking visitors’ temperature and counting number of visitors
The point checks the temperature of the visitors and counts the number of visitors.
Wearing mask is a must
If the flower selling point is too crowded, latecomers need to wait to get inside.
Visitors can check the visitor Flow at 2021 Points of Sale
Changes inside the venue
Normally in the venues for Lunar New Year Carnivals, there were a lot of stalls selling flowers and new year souvenirs.
Citizens can buy flowers easily at the Point of Sale of New Year Flowers
There were some big cooked food stalls with the tasty fish ball in curry sauce, sausage, dumplings etc.
The smaller regional Chinese New Year Fairs might even have the stages for magic shows and singing performances.
As Frank mentioned before in this post, the name “Points of Sale of New Year Flowers” shows the activity is a pure temporary flower bazaar.
Customers are choosing Panama Oranges
The number of flower stalls is even reduced by 50%.
There are no cooked food, decorations for new year and toys for kids.
There is no stage for magic show and singing performance in 2021.
Magicians and singers also disappear.
Dodging the crowds is always important
After visiting the flower selling point near his home, Frank thinks that the above-mentioned new arrangements are effective.
Sellers’ business, buyers’ shopping and government’s crowd control to prevent the spread of virus mingle harmoniously.
The environment is a lot better than the condition at the chaotic and overcrowded Flower Market in Mong Kok.
It is not easy to choose and buy flowers at the over-crowded Mong Kok’s Flower Market before Chinese New Year.
This proves that dodging the crowds is always important.
Frank will continue to maximize sightseeing time and minimize the crowds for clients during his Hong Kong private tour service in the near future.
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For further questions, please contact Frank
