Colder today, swaddled in overcoats worn once a year,
The pretty girls strut the street in a new layer of fashion,
Schoolchildren run in blazers instead of cotton dresses
And businessmen belt matching trenchcoats, beige and navy blue.
The hum of waiting taxis muffled by the winter morning,
My stockinged feet grow cold as I watch from the balcony.
Women burn their prayers in a bucket on the pavement,
But the Christmas tree’s still up, defying luck and custom,
This lip of fire on the flaming horse briefly liveable.
And the haze of Hong Kong’s skyline finally breathable,
I inhale the crisp, chill air like a sailor two years at sea
Returning to his homeland, and yet to dream of China.
— Hong Kong, January 2026
• • • • •
The Chinese New Year 2026, which falls on 17 February, begins the Year of the Fire Horse, the peak of yin energy, representing stillness, receptiveness, passivity, reflection, contemplation, inwardness, coolness, earth, water, the moon, night and femininity. It is customary, particularly at New Year, to burn joss paper (zhǐqián) as representations of money (‘spirit money’) in offerings to dead ancestors to ensure their financial means in the afterlife, this private ritual typically being performed on the street in specially designed metal buckets.
A Communist in Hong Kong 