The temperature had dropped to eight degrees and Prudence and I were bundled in scarves and jackets (inside) only to look at each other in horror. Then our gaze shifted to the ornate invitation for the seventh time as we restarted the short debate of "do we go - do we not go". 

Gee - how can you resist a traditional party? I'll tell you how - when you are wearing enough clothes that you are barely able to bend your arm and scratch your nose! 

Ta Chiu

Well, enough of the dramatics, we eventually hauled ourselves out of the office and headed straight for the New Territories to celebrate the five year Ta Chiu anniversary of Tai Hang Village, Tai Po. Comprised of three separate villages, this is historically where the Man family resides and we were not ones to miss out on a feast for the eyes and stomach! 

The Tai Hang Ta Chiu festival is scheduled every five years in celebration of Tin Hau - the goddess of the sea, the deity of choice for Hakka hamlets along the South China Sea. 

Like a typical Ta Chiu, the festivities feature such rituals as scrumptious vegetarian meals called pun choi (big bowl feast), colourful lion dances, a mystical Chinese opera performance in a bamboo-made matshed and a slew of pilgrims in the form of village elders. 

Gastronomic Brains

Villager Man Ka-shun is the gastronomic brains behind the 50-odd person culinary team. As an award-winning chef, he heads up the preparation of three veggie meals per day and claims at 47, that he has been involved with his village's festive cooking in the last four Ta Chiu festivals. 

"We measure numbers of people eating by numbers of tables! On average, we cater for 150 tables per day but for a big day, like today, we estimate we will cater for up to 300 tables. Over the five-day period, we will serve more than 1,000 pun-choi. 

A typical village home kitchen cannot handle these types of numbers but the Man family has its ancestral hall and a dedicated outside kitchen nearby to cope with it. In order to keep the tradition, they burn wood as fuel and Chef Man commands four stoves and a big steamer. 

The Tradition of Pun Choi

The tradition of eating vegetarian pun choi is a gesture to pray for safety and to share with gods. It's not just for Ta Chiu but any celebrating occasion such as a wedding or birth of a child, and at Chinese New Year. So on this cold afternoon, you would have found Prudence and myself attempting to bring together a table of 10 - the rules state that tables which are full will be served.

Why were we so eager? Well, it's a smorgasbord of delight, but the history behind the famous pun choi can be traced back to the Sung Dynasty. It is said that an emperor and his military team passed a New Territories village. It was an honour to serve the emperor and the villagers got together to prepare food which was prepared and served in a bucket. In fact, these buckets were traditionally used for domestic washing and foot cleaning. But the food spoke for itself and the simple fare won favour with the emperor and has since become a traditional way to serve the communal dish.

A Mixed Bag Celebration

So bring on the food. The one singular metal bowl in the middle of the table was quite enticing and large. Everyone filled their own bowls with rice and went to it. Inside the metal bowl, we found treasures of celery, broccoli, turnip, red bell pepper, mushrooms, dried oysters, fried beancurd, vermicelli and heaps of tofu skins and puffs. A pun choi for 10 person is said to sometimes weigh more than 10 catty  - one catty is approx. 600gms! 

Sitting together with us were some indigenous villagers, an 82-year-old temple keeper from the near-by Kwan Yin Temple and some FEHD cleaners who had been working in the village for more than 15 years. A mixed bag, you could say.

All in all, a fantastic day out in the New Territories to celebrate with old friends and give thanks to the goddess, Tin Hau. 

Coming Festivals

The next two traditional celebrations in honour of Tin Hau are:

9-13 Jan -  Ho Chung, Sai Kung - Tai Ping Ching Chiu (Ta Chiu);
10 May - Cheung Chau Bun Festival.