(Ecns.cn）--Just as the West has Halloween for ghosts and ghouls, so does China have a holiday for the departed spirits of the underworld. China's Ghost Festival, also known as Zhongyuan Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival, is a popular celebration throughout China and by Chinese in many countries that takes place on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. This year, it falls on August 14 and will last for half a month.
Though rituals and customs celebrating such a festival vary among different regions in the country, celebrations in Hong Kong and Macao, are definitely one of a kind.
Join the Ullambana in Hong Kong
Earlier this year, the Ullambana in Hong Kong was listed as one of the national intangible cultural heritages of China. Home to 1.2 million Chanshan people, Hong Kong has celebrated the traditional festival for more than 100 years.
This year, four places in the region, including Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon City District, Causeway Bay, and Jordan Road, will be the major areas hosting the religious ceremony. The celebration contains traditional activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors as well as ghosts without offspring. During the activities, many paper clothes will be burned as gifts to wandering spirits.
Another traditional activity is to drive by a mortuary on the remote western side of HK island where some coffins have been for two, three, or even four decades.
Though it may be scary to attend such a festival, it's also an excellent chance to enjoy unique snacks in Hong Kong as vendors gather on the street during the period.
