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Dong Zhi, Hong Kong Hong Kong's major traditional festivals are colourful and noisy affairs, at which thousands upon thousands of people turn out to join the celebrations. Fireworks, festive feasting, lion and dragon dancers, incense smoke, Chinese opera, mah jong, fortune-telling, carnivals and parades come together in a variety of combinations to create a uniquely festive atmosphere seen nowhere else in the world. Winter Solstice / Dong Zhi is the second most important festival of the Chinese calendar. In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is in that point of its orbit at which one of the earth's hemispheres is most tilted away from the sun. This causes the sun to appear at its farthest below the celestial equator when viewed from earth. Solstice means "The Sun stands still", i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day. In Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around December 21 (December 22 East Asia time) and ends around January 5. Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The coming of winter is celebrated by families and is traditionally the time when farmers and fishermen gather food in preparation for the coming cold season. It is also a time for family reunions This celebration can be traced to the Chinese belief in yin and yang, which represent balance and harmony in life. It is believed that the yin qualities of darkness and cold are at their most powerful at this time, but it is also the turning point, giving way to the light and warmth of yang. For this reason, the Dong Zhi Festival is a time for optimism Dong Zhi is celebrated in style. The longest night of the year is a time to put on new clothes, visit family with gifts and to laugh and drink deep into the long night. In China, Dong Zhi was originally celebrated as an end-of-harvest festival. Today, it is observed with a family reunion over the long night, when pink and white tangyuan are eaten in sweet broth to symbolise family unity and prosperity.
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