- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Actor Hugh Jackman attends Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance Festival on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, which is made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67 meters long dragon through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Keith Tsuji/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images) *** Local Caption *** Hugh Jackman
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Hugh Jackman sneaks up for a photo with traditionally dressed girls at the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, which is made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67 meters long dragon through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images)
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Performers prepare to take part in the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, which is made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67 meters long dragon through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images)
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Actor Hugh Jackman holds the dragon pearl at Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance Festival on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67-metre-long dragon, through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Keith Tsuji/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images). *** Local Caption *** Hugh Jackman
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Performers take part in the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, which is made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67 meters long dragon through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images)
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Actor Hugh Jackman holds the Dragon Pearl at Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance Festival on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67-metre-long dragon, through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Keith Tsuji/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images) *** Local Caption *** Hugh Jackman
- HONG KONG – SEPTEMBER 28: Performers take part in the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance on September 28, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the 19th century the people in the village of Tai Hang miraculously stopped a plague with a fire dragon dance. It has become a annual tradition, where up to 300 performers dance the fire dragon, which is made up of 72,000 sticks of burning incense and a 67 meters long dragon through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images for Hong Kong Images)
Award-winning actor Hugh Jackman visited Hong Kong September 28th during Mid-Autumn Festival to promote his latest film, “Pan”. During his stay, Jackman visited one of the oldest neighbourhoods, Tai Hang, and experienced the most authentic cultural heritage with around 100 years of history – Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance. Being the first international star participating in this festivity, Jackman was honoured with a leading role of the parade by holding the Fire Dragon pearl.
About Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance
In the 19th century, the people of Tai Hang began performing a dragon dance to stop a run of bad luck afflicting their village. More than a century later, their village has been developed into a part of the cosmopolitan. But the dragon keeps on dancing. It has even danced its way onto China’s third national list of intangible cultural heritage.
All this started a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, sometime around 100 years ago. First a typhoon slammed into the fishing and farming community of Tai Hang. This was followed by a plague, and then when a python ate the villagers’ livestock, they said enough was enough. A soothsayer decreed the only way to stop the chaos was to stage a fire dance for three days and nights during the upcoming festival. The villagers made a huge dragon from straw and covered it with incense sticks, which they then lit. Accompanied by drummers and erupting firecrackers, they did what they were told and danced for three days and three nights – and the plague disappeared.
About Mid Autumn Festival
As the round shape symbolizes unity in the Chinese culture, the full moon stirs these ancient sentiments, which are embodied in the way the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated since the early Tang dynasty (618 – 907). In the past, on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month every year, families would get together to make offerings of osmanthus-flavoured wine, spherical fruits such as pears, grapes, pomegranates and of course mooncakes to the heavens, to express gratitude for a bumper harvest as well as enjoy a reunion with relatives who live far away. To many, this is considered to be one of the most important festivals of the year. Highly-urbanised Hong Kong still celebrates this holiday, and does so in style and with its characteristic penchant for fusing tradition with inn