A City A Story Photo Weekly Contest #14 - Chinese New Year | 一城一故事照片比賽#14 - 農曆新年

Happy New Year of the Dog, Steemians!

先在此㊗️大家狗年萬事如意，身體健康，財運亨通！

On the first day of Lunar New Year, I visited my parents' place as per my family tradition. Going back to my old home is always pleasant. And there are different cakes prepared by my mum! Yummy! 😋

每年正月初一，我都會回父母家拜年。除了可以逗利是，還少不了可以品嚐母親大人泡製的賀年糕點！ 😋

^{Fish cakes, Radish Cake made by my mum. Year Cake pan-fried by my mum. There are also Kue Lapis Legit and different kinds of nuts.
母親大人自家製的魚條及蘿蔔糕，以及她親手煎的廣東年糕。另外還有千層糕及各式果仁。
(My own photo taken with Nokia 8 in Hong Kong.)
Click on the image to view full screen!}

After visiting my parents, I went to the street downstairs. Every Lunar New Year, this pedestrian-only street will be packed with hawkers, selling all kinds of goods: towels, clothes, handbags, tableware, etc. Hawkers will put their goods on the ground, extending along the 200-meter long street. Interestingly, unlike in other districts, there is no hawker selling hot food like fishball or barbecue squid here.

跟父母拜年後，我走到老家附近的街上。這條沒有汽車的街上，每年農曆新年都會有小販擺賣。小販的地攤一個接一個，延綿百多二百米，把整條街都擠滿了。這個農曆新年小販市集，售賣着各式各樣的商品：毛巾、衣服、手袋、餐具等等，可謂應有盡有。有趣的是，這兒很少有熟食小販出沒，換了是其他地區，相信會有很多熟食小販叫賣着魚蛋、烤魷魚、碗仔翅之類吧？

^{!steemitworldmap 22.3968079 lat 113.9730966 long Kai Man Path d3scr
(My own photo taken by Sony Xperia X in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.)
Click on the image to view full screen!}

The "hawker-packing" tradition on this street occurred since I was a kid (that's more than 30 years of history). The reason that hawkers are selling at this time of year here is, the Hawker Control Team of Food and Environmental Hygiene Department usually does not patrol the streets during the Lunar New Year holidays. Thus this gives a rare chance for hawkers to earn some "New Year Fortune".

這個滿街小販的過年傳統，肯定有超過三十年歷史。小販們都趁新春假期，政府的小販管理隊不執勤的時候，雲集這條街上，希望發一筆新年財。

In the past, people can earn their living by being a hawker. Indeed, many people supported their families by selling on streets and in markets many years ago. As Hong Kong economy developed, people preferred to visit shops and then shopping malls. Also the government wants to remove hawkers from the streets, making the streets tidier and cleaner. Hawkers either transformed their business into shops, or moved into government-managed markets. While this made the streets more managed, it also increased the difficulty for people to start small business.

回想過去，不少人都靠做小販養妻活兒。可隨着香港經濟發展，政府希望能維持市容整潔，把很多小販取締了。另一方面，隨着生活質素提高，市民也傾向於到商店和大商場購物。於是，小販們要不遷進店舖之中，要不就搬到政府管理的街市裏繼續經營。的確，市容衞生改善了，但是也把搞小生意的門檻大大提高了。近年店舖租金颷升，小店的生存空間更為縮少了。

This could be inevitable as a city is getting more and more developed. So I would treasure the time seeing hawkers selling on streets...

也許，小販的逐漸消失，是大城市發展過程中無可避免的。且容我好好珍惜滿街小販這個畫面吧…

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About the “A City A Story Photo Weekly Contest”, please refer to the latest contest post by @aaronli.

關於「一城一故事照片比賽」，請參看 @aaronli 的最新比賽帖。

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I am also posting snapshots of Lunar New Year decorations in shopping malls and public locations around Hong Kong in 2018, the Year of the Dog. Search for #lnydecohk2018 in my blog list to view them all!

本人也在以 #lnydecohk2018 發佈2018戊戌狗年的香港新春佈置快照，有興趣的可以留意本人的blog更新啊！

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Thanks for reading! Please upvote and follow me @nahaha.

希望能和大家在Steemit交流，請 upvote 和 follow @nahaha。