Chinese New Year Series – It's like the 4th day of CNY. What does it mean? 新年系列 - 年初四咁樣，到底是什麼模樣!?

Hi Guys! This post is my last post of the Chinese New year Series! In Hong Kong, the CNY holiday will end at the 3rd day of CNY and we have to back to work again on the 4th day of CNY. So our CNY’s customs and traditions will be up to the 3rd day only! Before talking about the 4rd day, let’s go through the 2nd day and the 3rd of CNY in Hong Kong!

大家好！這篇將會是小弟新年系列的最後一篇了！因為在香港，新年假期只去到年初三，所以我們主要的新年習俗及活動都只去到年初三！在說說年初四之前，讓我們先看看香港的年初二及年初三是怎樣的！

(photo from the film: The Lucky Guy)

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2nd day of CNY – CNY Dinner 年初二 – 開年飯

(photo from apple daily)

You may be wondering why the CNY Dinner is on the 2nd day but not the first day of CNY. In tradition, the 1st day of CNY is resting day of God. So the 1st day of CNY is a “no meat” day to thanks God (no meat is the tradition of Buddhism). We treat the 2nd day of CNY as the real day to start the new year. Families, friends, and company will have their CNY Dinner with lots of food!

年初二是中國傳統的開年日，親友、員工們都會聚首一堂齊齊開年，相傳年初一是古人迎接新歲，感謝神明的日子，不可殺生，所以到了年初二，就是正式開年的日子，大家都會大魚大肉迎接新一年的來臨。

(photo from hkheadline.com)

Of course, in Hong Kong, we still have meat on the 1st day of CNY. And we may not have the CNY Dinner on the 2nd day of CNY. Just to choose a day after CNY for the CNY Dinner is ok~

當然，在香港這個「百無禁忌」的地方，開年飯也不一定要在年初二吃，加上親人、朋友、公司，這麼多開年飯都不能在一天吃完，所以，我們大多都是在新年後擇個日子，開開心心吃一個開年飯！

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2nd day of CNY – CNY Fireworks Display of Hong Kong 香港賀歲煙花匯演

(photo from wlcreative.com)

In Hong Kong, we have the CNY Fireworks Display of Hong Kong and there is a story behind! In traditions, Chinese like to celebrate CNY with firecracker. But since the Hong Kong 1968 Leftist riots, due to the reason of safety, firecracker was banned in Hong Kong.

In 1982, China and UK started to discuss the issue of Hong Kong returning China. Hong Kong was under the atmosphere of the fear of future. At the same year, Jardine Matheson was celebrating it’s 150th anniversary. To make Hong Kong happy, Jardine sponsored HK$1M and the Government organized the first CNY Fireworks Display on the 1st day of CNY.

每天的年初二，香港政府都會舉行煙花匯演，但其實這個煙花匯演是有歷史故事的。本來中國人都會在農曆新年放爆竹慶祝，不過在香港因1967的暴動後，因治安及安全問題就禁止放爆竹了，直到1982年，中英就香港回歸問題開始談判，香港因前路未知而蒙上一道陰影，而同年是英商怡和洋行的150周年，為了沖喜，怡利洋行贊助100萬港元在年初一由政府在維港舉行煙花匯演。

The Fireworks Display was cancelled this year
(photo from hk01.com)

The response of the Fireworks Display was great and the event was kept till now. Since 1985 the Fireworks Display is scheduled on the 2nd day of CNY and attract thousands of audiences at the Victoria Harbour. This year, we had a traffic accident on 10th of Feb causing 19 deaths and the 2nd day of CNY was the 7th day after the accident. In Chinese tradition, we cannot have any celebration on that day. So the Government cancelled the Fireworks Display and donate the money to the bereaved family.

因為反應良好，故煙花匯演一直延續到今，舉行日期則由1985開始改至年初二舉行，每年都吸引數以萬計的市民到維港兩岸觀看煙花。不過今年因2月10日一場嚴重的交通意外造成19人死亡，而年初二正是死難者的「頭七」，故政府取消了今年的煙花匯演，並將省下來的錢捐給死難者家屬。

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3rd day of CNY – Chi Kou (Red mouth) 年初三 赤口

(photo from kknews.cc)

The 3rd day of CNY is Chi Kou and it’s not a good day to go out. In Chinese tradition, it’s the day of the red god which is the God of Blazing Wrath and bring us unluck. Also, the 3rd day of CNY is the marriage day of the mice. Mice will have their marriage at night. To escape from the bad luck and not to disturb the mice, people won’t go out and will sleep early at night.
Of course, in Hong Kong, we now don’t care about this. So in the 3rd day of CNY, we have the Chinese New Year Raceday! If you are not afraid of the red dog, go to the racecourse and fight the God of Blazing Wrath!

年初三是赤口，是不宜外出之日，傳說赤口又為赤狗日，赤狗是熛怒之神會帶來不利，同時，年初三是「老鼠娶親」之日，老鼠們會在晚上娶妻，所以人們在年初三大多不會外出，且會早睡！不過，在香港，現在都不太理會赤口了，照樣馬照跑、舞照跳，賽馬會在年初三會有農曆新年賽馬日，如大家想知新一年運氣如何，就要在年初三到馬場碰一碰運氣了！

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It’s look like the 4th day of CNY 年初四咁樣

Although the mainland China is still in holiday, we start to work on the 4th day of CNY. So in Hong Kong, we have the words “it’s like the 4th day of CNY”. So what does it mean and how does it come from?

雖然內地的朋友仍在放假，但香港年初四就要上班了，所以在香港，我們有一句「年初四咁樣」，相信華人朋友都會聽過，但「年初四咁樣」是什麼意思？

The poster of film: The Lucky Guy

There was a movie “The Lucky Guy” starring Stephen Chow, one of the Chinese most famous actor and director. In one of the scene, the restaurant of Ng Mang Tat was going to be acquired by “Flirty Si” portrayed by Sandra Ng and they called for help from Stephen Chow. When Stephen Chow ask Ng how’s “Flirty Si” look. Ng answered “She’s like the 4th day of CNY”. Stephen Chow was shocked. Ng continued said, “on the 4rd day of CNY, holiday ended and all money spent, you have to work again, it’s the look on all of your face, like Si now”. Since the movie, it becomes one of the classic in Hong Kong and also the Cantonese Region.

周星馳先生在1997年拍了一部電影叫《行運一條龍》，當中有一段經典橋段，吳孟達的茶餐廳即將被吳君如飾演的「姣婆四」的公司收購，茶餐廳的伙計找周星馳求救，當周星馳問吳孟達「姣婆四」是什麼模樣時，吳孟達答了一句：「年初四咁樣」，周星馳即時被震驚，吳孟達繼續說：「年初四，假期放完，錢又用光，又要上班，樣子又怎會好呢？」自此，「年初四咁樣」，成為了粵語圈的經典對白。

Enjoy the original clip of the scene! (From 26:52 – 27:38)

So, whether you are describing a person ugly, sad or lost, you can say “it’s like the 4th day of CNY”. Luckily, as the 3rd day of CNY is Sunday this year and we have one more day of holiday. When we start to work again on the 5th day of CNY, we will all look like “the 5th day of CNY”!

所以，不論是形容別人樣丑、失落、不快，都可以用「年初四咁樣」來形容，幸好，今年的年初三是星期天，所以我們多放一天假，只是明天年初五就要上班了，我們明天都會是「年初五咁樣」！

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Thanks for watch my CNY series! There are endless stories of the origin, customs and traditions of CNY. Next year, if I have the chance, I will talk about the origin and history story of CNY!

謝謝觀看我這幾篇的新年系列，中國新年的來源、故事、習俗實在是太多了！下一年有機會的話，我再跟大家說說中國新年的來源和歷史故事！

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Thanks for spending your time to read my articles. I like to share stories of Hong Kong. I wish you may support me and I will keep going!
謝謝你能抽空閱讀這篇文章，我平日喜歡分享香港的故事，希望大家多多支持，我會繼續努力！